Fury and the Beast
by thesorcerousnation
Summary: He looked back down at the paper and grinned. "Why did you write 'all of the above' under 'Abilities? That seems a bit vague..." Catrin shrugged. "Hey, it seemed to work..." X-Men: First Class fic. Beast/OC. Story is better than the description!
1. Prologue

Hello, all! This is my first X-Men fanfiction, and, if all goes well, the first story I will ever finish on here! I will certainly try, anyway...

This is a Hank McCoy (Beast)/OC story taking place during (and probably a bit after) the movie X-Men: First Class. My OC is one that I've had an idea for for literally years, and I promise that even though she has multiple powers I will keep from from being Mary-Sue! I think the muse would kill me if I let her come across that way... *shivers* Anyway, I'm going to try to keep this story rated T, though if anyone at any point thinks the rating should be changed to M and can prove it to me logically, I will change it. So far, this story will be rated T for fairly graphic violence, some swearing, and scenes of a romantic nature later (though probably not M-rated ones!).

I ask that you leave me a review once you reach the end of this chapter (or at the end of whichever chapter is the last, once more show up!) as it encourages me to get more material up at a faster rate. Thanks!

Now, on to the story!

Disclaimer: I do not own X-Men or any of the characters therein! I do, however, own my OC.

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><p>Prologue<p>

Age 16 – Regeneration

"My God... this has got to be the worst thing I've ever seen, and I've seen some bad stuff in my time, lemme tell ya."

"No kidding... I'm surprised we even found pieces of 'em."

_Pieces of what? _Catrin wondered, _What are those men talking about? _And why was she suddenly aware, after having been in the dark for an indefinite amount of time? And why did everything hurt?

Sirens. Lights flashing on the other side of her closed eyelids. What was going on? Had something bad happened? The last thing she'd known, she and her family – her parents and older brother – had been driving on the highway, headed for her aunt and uncle's house for a family party. They'd gone around a curve, and- oh. This pain was simply too distracting; it felt like her skin was slowly being peeled off, but somehow she couldn't gather the strength to scream.

"Wait... what the hell?"

"Holy shit... no way that's happening..."

The men sounded scared. What were they looking at?

"It hurts," she managed, the sound of her voice surprising her: it sounded more like someone who'd had their throat cut than like a normal person. "Help... help me..." Her leg twitched suddenly, and Catrin grunted in pain. There was a loud, disgusting crunching sound at exactly the same time as her leg twitch, and both men yelled in shock.

"Oh, my God... oh, my God!" one of them moaned. The other was saying some of the foulest words Catrin had ever heard in her life. Finally, she managed to open her eyes: she had to see what was the matter. Desperate to know what was scaring them so badly, she pushed herself into a sitting position, ignoring the wracking pain for the moment. Both men, whom she now realized where firemen, by their clothes, shrieked; their terrified faces were the first things she saw.

"What are you?" one of them, the one who had been swearing, whimpered – whimpered! – at her, "What the fuck are you?" The other one was crossing himself over and over and over...

"What?" Catrin gasped, her voice sounding a little more like her normal one, "What did I do?" The only answer she got was the foul-mouthed one pointing a shaking finger at her body. Finally, for the first time, Catrin glanced down. She really, really wished she hadn't... ever.

Blood covered her, for one thing. Completely covered her: not one inch of clothing or skin was uncovered. To add to this, there were still bones sticking out of her left leg, the one that hadn't twitched: both lower leg bones, white, glistening through the blood. Most of the skin on her arms was burned off, too, exposing way more muscle and bone than Catrin had ever wanted to see. Without thinking, she reached up to her throat, and found a huge shard of what she guessed to be metal sticking out of the side of it. Again without thinking, she tugged it out: the pain blasted through her, but only for an instant; within seconds, she felt new skin covering the gaping hole under her fingers. She gasped in horror, looking down at herself again just in time for her left leg to twitch and reset itself, the bones grafting together before her eyes, the skin closing over them...

"What... what..."

The skin on her arms was growing back, too...

"What is this..."

She had the sudden, unshakable urge to tilt her head to one side, and when she did her neck let out a resounding crack, filled with undertones of grating and clicking. She realized she'd just felt her broken neck mend itself.

"W-what's happening to me?"

The men were unable to answer her questions; they seemed beyond all speech or even thought. Catrin turned, numbly intending to look for someone else to ask, only to see... her family... their bodies in much the same condition hers had been in moments before... only with no sign of them ever being anything but the empty, burned husks they now were. Another glance showed their car, burned and bashed beyond anything Catrin had ever seen before. One last look, this time down at herself to see her now-perfectly-healed body, was all Catrin had time for before a scream finally ripped through her. After that, she returned to the darkness.

Age 17 – Fire

"Get her!"

Running. It was all running, now. It seemed like ever since last year – this exact date last year, no less – people had either been chasing after Catrin or running from her. Her own aunt and uncle had, for instance. Her grandparents, too: both sets. She'd been forced to live on the streets since the day of the accident, the day her body had suddenly decided to gain an ability that had saved her. But not her family. Oh, no... they were a year dead, and she was the same as ever; better, even... this healing ability of hers made sure of that.

"C'mon, nab the bitch!"

"Can't, she's too damn fast..."

"Just grab her! She can't fight you once she's down!"

Catrin picked up her pace, knowing what the three men chasing her wanted: she'd grown a lot in the past year, and her healing had also given her features an almost terrifying perfection that many men lusted after. These men were no different than others she'd had to fight off before... these were just more persistent. And fast, she was losing ground at a remarkable rate.

"Got'cha, mutant!"

One of the men grabbed her and slammed her to the ground, making Catrin cry out in pain and fear. None of them had ever caught her before... but the use of the term "mutant" was nothing new; one of the first men had come up with it, and somehow they all knew of the term.

_Some weird rapist club?_ She found herself wondering, even as she struggled against the man's grasp. She couldn't shake him off, and his friends were laughing, egging him on. Suddenly, Catrin wasn't just in pain and scared: she was furious. What right did they have to do this to her? What right?

"Get off me, you ass!" The words left her mouth in a sharp scream of fury; the last word was accompanied by unconscious thrust forward of her hands, which had managed to get between her torso and the man's. The man flew, literally flew backwards off of her, and hit the alley wall with a resounding smack. The other two men yelled in shock, and Catrin stared in horror at the singed hole in the front of the man's shirt... and chest... In fact, the term "hole" was the only one that applied now, for there was a gigantic one right through the man's chest. He crumpled to the ground, his shock and horror still etched on his dead face. Catrin screamed for real, then, reaching up to cover her mouth with her hands. She swiftly realized this wasn't the best idea, however, for red-hot flames still licked around her fingers and palms...

"Let's get out of here!"

The two other men took off, leaving their dead comrade and Catrin in the alley, the latter still staring at her flaming hands, the former still smoking...

Age 18 – Water

It was a calm change, this time, and it came at a time of weakness. She was in the shower at the homeless shelter, curled up on the floor in a ball as she cried. It was two years to the day since the accident, one year to the day since the fire abilities had started. She was looking more different than ever, since that day: her dark brown hair had fallen out, as though burned off, and then grown back in red. Bright red. The color of flames...

Catrin sniffed, wiping at her eyes. She knew they'd be in soon to kick her out of the shower; it would be someone else's turn, soon, and she would have to leave the shelter in order to avoid anyone finding out about her abilities... or recognizing her. She stood up stiffly, her body aching from the hard floor; she saw a few bruises on her thighs and shins, but within seconds they had vanished, healed. She swiped at her eyes again, silently cursing the healing: she would've died with her family, if it hadn't been for this damn ability. And she wouldn't be a murderer, if it weren't for the fire.

_I wish... I wish I could die,_ she thought, resting her forehead against the side of the shower, _But... I don't even know if I can, now..._

Suddenly, the steam of the shower... changed. There was no other word for it. It had been swirling, but now it was swirling around her. In concentric circles. Catrin raised her head, her eyebrows climbing her forehead, and the steam climbed, too, rising to the ceiling before spiraling back down to the ground, something steam should never have been able to do. Catrin's mouth fell open as she realized what might, just might be going on, and she raised her hands, cupping them around the shower head.

"Cold," she murmured, "I want this water to be cold..." Instantly, the water blasting down on her was so cold it was making her teeth chatter. "Okay, h-hot," she gasped, and the water returned to its previous temperature. Catrin laughed, actually laughed, for the first time in two years...

Age 19 – Air

_I'm sick of all this traveling... _

Catrin examined herself in yet another cracked bathroom mirror in yet another run-down restaurant, watching her now-bright-green eyes stare back at her. They'd changed after the water thing had started, though why green and not blue Catrin wasn't sure. She wasn't sure she wanted to know, though. What would it matter?

_Damn eyes... damn hair... damn powers... curses, more like!_

She bashed her head against the mirror, feeling the thing break and sharp edges piercing her forehead. She hissed in pain and pulled back, only to see the nasty cuts heal in the broken mirror shards still before her. She hissed again, but this time in irritation: couldn't she just, for once, have an injury that stayed? There were a few scars left – the old ones from childhood – but no new ones since the day of the accident.

_Too bad... I might've enjoyed getting ones other than the ones on my heart..._

Another person entered the bathroom, and Catrin jumped, instantly stepping away from the mirror and edging out of the room. The other woman looked at her curiously, but Catrin was out of the room before she could be asked if she was alright. Leaving the restaurant, Catrin headed down the road, clutching her thin shirt to her against the driving, cold wind. She knew that if she let the fire within her out, she'd be warm enough, but then people would stare at her more than ever: a girl on fire caught attention.

_Ugh... back to the shelter, I guess..._

But then, the wind stopped. Literally, stopped. Catrin looked up... and realized that this was a local phenomenon: it was like she was in the eye of a hurricane; wind all around her, but not touching her. A slow, hesitant smirk spread over her face as she held out her hand, feeling the air swirl around her much as the water had the first time she'd been able to control it.

_Alriiiiiight... finally something immediately useful..._

Age 20 – Earth

She was walking across the water. Well, sort of. More like freezing it in front of herself, then melting it once she was past. It was slippery going, for ice was still hard for her to walk on, curses or not. Catrin had long decided to refer to the abilities she possessed as "curses"; there was no other word for them, as far as she was concerned: what else could you call the things that had killed someone and not saved her own family, that had caused her so much pain without letting her die?

She wasn't even sure where she was going, or what she was even doing in Florida, walking on the water; it just felt... right, somehow, to be here, now. She was wondering so much about this that she didn't even notice when the footing was suddenly much less slippery. It was only when she tripped on a small rock that she looked down, to still see water all around... except right around her feet. Wet earth was there, in a little spit that wasn't linked to anything. It was simply... floating on the water... or no, it was supporting itself, somehow, as though from underneath, as though it was solid land.

_Oh, yeah... four damn years to the day... new curse, I'll bet._

Sure enough, as she concentrated, she found that she had been unconsciously drawing earth from underneath the water for herself to walk on. She managed a halfhearted smile; at least now she wasn't in danger of slipping.

She was smiling right up until the point that all hell broke loose...

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><p>There... is this fun so far? Leave a review letting me know! Thanks!<p> 


	2. Trust Me

Hello again!

WOW, you guys! I have received the most AMAZING response to this story, more than I've ever gotten starting out than for any of my others combined! I am extremely grateful for all of your story and author alerts, for the fact that so many of you favorited the story, me, or both, and for the reviews I've gotten! Because of all of this, I thought all of you deserved another chapter... what do you think? *smirks*

WithLoveFromTorchwood, one of my reviewers, said she was specifically looking forward to seeing how Catrin meets Charles Xavier... well, in this chapter, you get to see how! I hope all of you enjoy the way I've written him and the others in this chapter (I don't want to give away who's here, lol!). As always, I would LOVE reviews on the subject!

A special thanks to my semi-beta, SilverTortoise (who is actually my sister!), for reading all the chapters so far (I've written four more past this, and am currently working on Chapter Six!) and helping me make this better!

And now, without further ado, the first official chapter in Fury and the Beast! Enjoy!

Disclaimer: I don't own X-Men... except for my OC.

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><p>Chapter One: Trust Me<p>

Catrin screamed as a great wall of wind and water suddenly rushed at her: she wasn't even sure where it had come from, but she could hear other screams within it, as though there were men trapped in it. It hit her with enough force to send her flying through the air, and for the first time in her life, Catrin intentionally used her abilities to save herself, not just to help herself in a small way: she caused the air that had been pushing her backwards to blow her upwards instead, ending up in an upright position, hovering over the water. For the first time, she noticed the two ships nearby, and heard shouting from one of them; confused, terrified cries of men and a few women.

_What's going on? I didn't do that... did I?_

She was doubting herself, her ability to keep herself from hurting others, right up until the gigantic anchor chains of the other boat – the one without screaming people – rose up out of the water and began attacking their own ship. She screamed again, dropping into the water in her shock. What was going on? Had the world gone mad? Or... or where there others? Like her? Cursed people? Who could control strange things and forces?

_Right now's not the time to be thinking that... get out of here, Catrin!_

After having yelled at herself, both in her mind and out loud, Catrin started swimming as fast as she could away from the boats, trying to get away from the crazy events surrounding them. This wasn't fast enough for her, though, so she pushed herself along with currents in the water, as well. She thought she was almost to the shore when she looked up to see that she had in fact swum directly to the first ship.

_Wait... I wasn't... I wasn't even heading this way! What the hell? How did I get that turned around?_

"Get that one, too!" a man's voice cried, and suddenly Catrin realized she wasn't alone in the water: there were two men about ten yards away from her along the ship, struggling to tread water. Catrin gasped, realizing it was her being referenced, and started to swim away again, using the water to push her faster than any normal human could've traveled.

"_Wait!"_ the man's voice yelled again, though this time it froze Catrin in mid-stroke: she had heard the man's words directly in her mind. She was sure of it. _"Please, wait," _he said gently, still in her head, making her shake it, trying to clear it.

"Stop that!" she tried to yell, but it came out as a weak sort of squeak, "D-don't hurt me... don't bother me... leave me alone!" She tried to swim again, only to find she couldn't: something was holding her back.

"_Please,"_ the man said again; Catrin couldn't help noticing, even in the midst of her fear, that he had a British accent, and, overall, a kind-sounding voice. "Please!" he called to her, this time out loud, "We're like you! Please, let us help you, too!"

"Like you helped whatever happened on that other boat? Fat chance!" Catrin shrieked, flailing in the water as she tried to swim.

"Just let him help you," another man's voice said, sounding amused; Catrin wondered if this was the other man in the water or a trick by the mind-speaking one. "He seems intent on doing that tonight, helping people he doesn't even know..."

"Hush, Eric, don't scare her more than she already is," the first man said, likewise sounding amused. He raised his voice to the people on the ship. "Let down some ropes, please... it's cold down here, and we need to get these two on board." He turned to Catrin again, releasing the other man, who swam towards the ship, to swim towards her. Catrin actually whimpered, hating herself for sounding – no, being – so weak, so afraid. "Don't be afraid," the man told her, "I'm Charles, Charles Xavier. I'm like you, alright? I'm like you. I won't hurt you, Catrin."

"How the hell do you know my name?" Catrin asked, still squirming slightly, even though she knew by this point it was useless, "And how'd you do that thing with the... the head-talking?" The man, Charles, chuckled.

"Like I said, I'm like you. Well, sort of. I'm telepathic, alright?" He reached her and grasped her arm lightly; Catrin realized she could move again, and immediately began to tug against Charles, trying to get away from him. "No, none of that, I already said I wouldn't hurt you, what else can I say?" Charles protested, gently but firmly drawing her to him. Catrin screamed, sure he would hurt her, but he just held her to himself, gasping slightly from trying to tread water for so long.

"I won't hurt you," he repeated yet again, "I absolutely promise. Now, you can move again; I'm sorry I had to hold your mind like that, and that I directed you over here without your permission, but you would've gotten away from me, otherwise. My mutation doesn't give me any advantage over humans except in a mental sense... Do you mind if we continue this aboard the ship? Please, Catrin?" Catrin gulped, then nodded: the man was somehow easy to trust... even though he had just admitted to manipulating her without her permission, even though she hadn't trusted a single thing, not even herself, since the day of the accident.

"Okay... okay, fine, but if you try one more thing, or.. or talk in my head one more time, I'm running. Alright?" Charles laughed, shaking his head.

"You have my word. Now, come on!" He released Catrin from his embrace, but still kept a hold on her hand. Catrin, now free to do as she wished, hesitantly pushed the two of them through the water using her ability. Charles raised an eyebrow, smiling a little, but he didn't say anything about it until they had climbed the side of the ship to the deck. All he said then was "Very nice... an interesting gift."

"Curse," Catrin retorted, making both Charles and the other man, who had walked over, laugh out loud.

"Opinionated little thing," the other man said, to which Catrin glared at him, her eyes blazing.

"I'm allowed to say so," she snapped, "It's dangerous, it lost me my family, and it killed someone... sound like a curse to you? Does to me!" Charles looked a bit pained at this, but the other man chuckled, holding out his hand to her.

"Sounds like my life, actually," he said dryly, "Charles here apparently knows our names already, but you don't. I'm Eric Lensherr." Catrin didn't take his hand, but she did nod to the man.

"Catrin Sinclair. Nice to meet you... I guess... since I have to..."

"That's the spirit!" a woman's voice said, making Catrin jump. Two woman had joined them, one blond, the other dark-haired. It was the blond who'd spoken. She likewise held out her hand to Catrin, grinning. "Raven Darkholme. Hi there." Catrin nodded to her, too, her eyes narrowing slightly. This girl wasn't much older than Catrin herself... what was she doing here?

"And I'm Moira MacTaggert," the dark-haired woman said briefly, before turning to Charles. "Where did this one come from?" Charles shrugged.

"I'm not sure... I was distracted, I suppose..." He turned to Catrin. "Where did you come from, anyway, Catrin?" It was Catrin's turn to shrug.

"I was walking on the water. Or the dirt, I guess... can't remember which, at that point... damn new curse, starting right then..." The others all raised eyebrows or assumed generally confused expressions, except for Charles.

"Wait... curse?" Moira asked, now watching Catrin warily. Charles held up a hand for silence.

"She's a mutant, too, Moira... as is Eric." Catrin glanced swiftly at the taller man beside her, at the same moment that he glanced at her. They both looked away swiftly. "Apparently, a most unusual convergence of power happened tonight," Charles went on, "Raven and I here, however many there were on that other ship – I wish to God I'd been able to read them, but that damn woman..." He paused, apparently attempting to regain composure. Catrin couldn't help watching him curiously as he did so; he didn't seem so much angry as... frustrated. Finally, he finished, "And then Eric and Catrin, here, both separate from the respective parties." Moira's eyebrows rose.

"Can you be sure of that, Xavier? We can't afford any spies, not if they're like those others we just had to fight." Charles glanced at her, his blue eyes momentarily hard.

"Of course I'm sure. I can see their minds, Moira, how would I not be sure?" Raven muttered something about "being distracted" and Catrin couldn't help laughing softly, an action that surprised both her and the others.

"What?" she snapped defensively, "It was funny!" Both Charles' and Eric's mouths twitched.

"Perhaps I have been distracted by other things in the past, Raven, but not tonight," Charles answered the blond calmly, "These two aren't our enemies." He glanced between Catrin and Eric, then looked at Moira. "Can your men get us some blankets? It's a bit cold..." Moira was turning to call to some of the other men on deck, whom Catrin hadn't noticed up to that point. Not wanting them near her, she raised her hands.

"Nah, don't bother, I've got it," she muttered, then drew the water from her, Eric's, and Charles' clothes. It splashed to the deck, making quite an addition to the puddle they'd already made there. Eric and Raven laughed, and Charles smiled broadly; only Moira still looked unsure, but after a few seconds she managed a smile, too.

"Very useful, Catrin," Charles complimented her, which gave Catrin pause: he was acting as though her curses were useful gifts, not an attitude she'd ever encountered before... not even from herself.

"It's no big deal," she whispered, and flinched when Charles patted her on the arm.

"No, it's a very, very big deal," he told her, his voice soft but containing power, "We need people like you, Catrin. I can explain everything to you, if you'd like... or you can leave. Your choice." He glanced at the tall man in the group. "Same with you, Eric, though I get the impression you're more curious about us, at this moment..." He gave Catrin a little grin. "Unless Catrin here can let out her inner self a little more and surprise us all... what say you, Catrin?" Catrin paused, biting her lip. Could she trust this Charles, these people, anything? She remembered her family's faces, remembered what they'd told her so long ago. She could be fearless, if she wanted to be, they'd said: she could do anything she set her mind to. She could even trust these people...

"Fine... fine, okay," she murmured, finally reaching out and taking Charles' hand, "Tell me. Tell me everything."

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><p>Something I didn't want to mention at the beginning, since I was trying not to give stuff away, but I couldn't remember for sure if Raven was on the boat or not. For the purposes of this fic, let's just pretend she was! It makes it more fun, anyway! :D<p>

Thanks so much for reading, and please leave me a review! Reviews = me more happy = I write more = you get more chapters faster!


	3. You Can Show Off

Hi, guys! I am sooo sorry I haven't posted anything for a few days... I've had this chapter ready for quite a while, and I just keep forgetting to put it up! Also, I'm having a bit of trouble concentrating on the story right now, since I do an AU Harry Potter RP site as well, and all of those characters have been bugging me to write them, too! (If any of you are interested in what this site might be, please check out my profile for a link!) But I know that if I get lots of reviews and such from you guys (hint hint!) I'll get right back on track!

I will be putting up pictures of Catrin on my profile, as well, so if you are curious to see what she looks like, check them out!

Anyway, I'm extremely grateful for all the reviews I got on the last chapter. A lot of you mentioned that you couldn't wait to see Catrin and Hank interact, and your wish will be granted in this chapter! Also, special thanks to WithLoveFromTorchwood for pointing out the fact that I was spelling Erik's name wrong... I don't know how I didn't catch that, but it will be right from now on! And lastly, a shout-out to IKillYouForKlondikeBar for pointing out a Doctor Who reference in the title of the last chapter; Doctor Who is one of my favorite shows EVER, and while I didn't intend to make the last chapter title a reference to "Trust me... I'm the Doctor." I did notice it myself later on... :D

As always, please review at the end of the chapter... more reviews = faster writing = faster updates! A special thanks to my beta, SilverTortoise for helping me out and reading all of this before-hand. Critiquing reviews are always welcome!

Disclaimer: I don't own X-Men or any of the characters from it, save for my OC.

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><p>Chapter Two: You Can Show Off<p>

It was hard to believe that less than 24 hours ago, Catrin had been shivering in ill-fitting, ripped clothing as she crossed the water in Florida. Now, she was arriving at a secret CIA science facility, called Division X, nearly a thousand miles away from Florida, in a borrowed pair of jeans and over-large men's button-up shirt, with Charles Xavier, a telepath who had convinced her to trust him, Erik Lensherr, a man who manipulated any and all metal, Raven Darkholme, a girl who in her natural state was bright blue with hair redder than Catrin's, and Moira MacTaggert, who had turned out being a CIA agent. They were here with more agents, intent on using the facility as a base of operations for a mutant army against another man named Sebastian Shaw, who apparently wanted to take over the world or something. Catrin had lost a bit of interest at that point, or rather reached her maximum amount of confusion, but Charles, who had explained everything to her, had smiled and said she'd figure it out eventually and to ask him if she had any questions.

_The only problem is thinking of questions that can be answered..._

Catrin smirked to herself at this thought, and she heard Charles chuckle from just ahead of her. She walked a bit faster, grabbing his elbow.

"Did you just read my mind again?" she muttered to the man, giving him a raised eyebrow. He met her slightly glare with an amused expression.

"Not on purpose," he answered, "But you sort of... er... shouted that. I couldn't miss it." He saw her still-irritated face and shrugged. "I'm sorry," he told her, sincerity in his face and voice, "Even I don't have perfect control over my mutation. But we'll practice, hmm?" Catrin nodded warily, still not sure about this idea of his: the two of them working together to try and train all of her multiple, extremely powerful abilities. Charles had managed to convince Catrin, along with trusting him, to think of her "curses" as abilities or mutations, or at least to attempt to until she proved otherwise to him. Catrin wasn't sure she wanted to let her abilities out enough to try and convince him, so she went along with his word choice.

They entered the facility, and Catrin couldn't help the fact that her eyes immediately began roving, not just to examine the large room at the entrance but also to look for escape routes, should she need them. Raven caught up to her and gave her a quick smile.

"Kind of weird, isn't this? Being here?" she murmured to Catrin, clearly trying to get Catrin to agree. Catrin shrugged; she wasn't sure what to make of this girl yet. Even Erik seemed better to Catrin than Raven, and he... well... he was sort of unassumingly terrifying. Raven was just...

_She's the opposite of me,_ Catrin decided, _But at the same time we're kinda alike. We both hate our cur-" _She paused in her thought, glancing at Charles to see if he had "heard" her near-slip, but he hadn't flinched. _My abilities... or mutations... or whatever... we hate 'em, but she also likes to trust people, which I don't..._ _But maybe I'll learn to... _She couldn't help smirking to herself at this thought. That would be the day, the time she trusted someone completely, utterly, and right away.

"Was corridors the theme here?" Erik quipped, raising one of his dark eyebrows. Raven giggled, and Moira looked amused. The only evidence that Catrin and Charles were likewise amused was a slight quirk of their lips. The other agent with them, whose name Catrin didn't know, looked confused.

"Ex... cuse... me?" he asked. Erik rolled his eyes.

"Forget I asked."

Finally, after making their way through another several corridors, they stopped in another large room. The others started talking about a large model of a strange-looking, apparently super-sonic jet hanging from the ceiling, which was interesting only to a certain point as far as Catrin was concerned, so she took the opportunity to lean over to Charles and whisper, "What are we doing here, again? Short version..." Charles smirked slightly before leaning over to whisper in her ear; she was pleased that he seemed to be keeping his promise about not talking in her mind.

"We're here to meet someone, I think... ah, this must be him..." He pulled away, and Catrin looked where he was looking to see... a kid. Well, a young man, but it was obvious, despite his lab coat, that he was only about Catrin's age: 20 or so. He was tall, over six feet, and relatively wiry in build, with rather thick glasses that did nothing to hide his brilliantly blue eyes, and rather messy dark hair. Catrin had the sudden irrational urge to straighten those unruly locks, and had to cross her arms behind her back to keep her itching hands from doing so.

"Hank?" the agent with them said, addressing the kid, "These-" he indicated Catrin and the others, except for Moira, "-are the special new recruits I was telling you about."

_Recruits? I think I like the sound of that... maybe..._

"This is Hank McCoy, one of our most talented young researchers," the agent went on, gesturing at the young man, who smiled rather nervously. Charles practically darted forward from Catrin's side, his hand outstretched for this Hank to shake, a large, friendly grin on his face.

"How wonderful!" he enthused, surprising Catrin: she hadn't seen him this pleased before. He shook Hank's hand. "Another mutant, already here!" he went on, making Catrin's stomach clench. This kid was a mutant too? "Why didn't you say?" Charles asked the agent, looking mildly confused as he turned back to the man. He missed the almost pained expression on Hank's face, but Catrin didn't.

_Ahhhh, nice one, Charles,_ she couldn't help thinking sarcastically, half-hoping that the man would hear, _Fantastic, even ! HE DIDN'T WANT ANYONE TO KNOW, YOU BRITISH IDIOT! _Charles actually flinched, and Catrin smirked, knowing he'd heard her.

"Say what?" the agent asked, his brow furrowing. Moira, too, was frowning: it seemed the woman wasn't used to finding people with strange powers around every corner, particularly not within the CIA. Erik, however, looked darkly amused. Charles' expression sank even more as he sighed.

"...because you don't know," he muttered, looking back at Hank, "I am so, SO terribly sorry..." Hank shook his head, trying to play it cool, but Catrin could somehow tell he was still nervous. The agent stepped forward, now truly looking confused.

"Hank?" he asked hesitantly. Hank shook his head again, looking slightly down and away to hide his face.

"You didn't ask, so I didn't tell," he muttered. His voice caught Catrin by surprise; it was almost... gentle, which normally would've made her think of him as a wimp, but there was power there, too, which completely ruined the "nerdy scientist" image he was apparently attempting to convey.

_Doesn't help that he's cute, too..._ This thought caught Catrin off-guard: she hadn't thought of a boy as cute since before the accident. She was interrupted from this line of thought by Raven's voice.

"So... what, your mutation is what? You're... super-smart?" the blond asked, walking towards Hank; Catrin nearly frowned when she realized by the other girl's tone that she might be trying to flirt with the young man. Then, she actually did frown, upset with herself for being... what? Was she really... jealous? She didn't even know this kid! But still... the look that Hank gave Raven, a sort of confused but interested look, made Catrin's blood boil...

"I'll say!" Charles answered, apparently not minding showing off his new knowledge of the young man,"Hank here graduated Harvard at the age of 15!" Catrin, without thinking, let out a low whistle, making everyone in the room jump. Hank's darted to her, his dark, thick eyebrows coming together in confusion, and Catrin gave him a tiny smirk. The young man's blue eyes returned to Charles and the others, and Catrin felt strangely... disappointed.

"I-I wish that's all it was," he commented, sounding almost scared. Charles gave him an encouraging look Catrin recognized.

"You're among friends, now, Hank," he told the boy, "You can show off." Nearly everyone, including Catrin but excluding Erik, took an involuntary step forward at this, already curious as to what might wind up happening. Hank looked a bit nervous again, but he also looked a bit excited. He stepped back slightly, but then Catrin realized that he wasn't merely moving back: he was also removing his shoes. She took another couple of steps forward, to be even with Charles and the others. Hank reached down and tugged off his socks, looking even more nervous, and everyone let out little sounds of amazement.

"Wow..." Catrin couldn't help murmuring as she stared down at Hank's feet. She'd never seen anything like them on a human before; in fact, the only time she'd ever seen anything remotely like them was on a chimpanzee at a zoo she'd visited with her family, back when they'd been alive. The toes were longer than any human's, and the big toe was over on the side, more like a thumb than a real toe. The others were all staring, as well, but, to Catrin's surprise, none of them, even the non-mutated ones, looked shocked or scared: they all looked pleased and impressed, an attitude she wasn't used to in relation to what Charles called mutations.

_I wish someone would look like that at me... maybe then I wouldn't feel so strange..._ Again, the thought caught Catrin off-guard: this day was turning into a regular open-mindedness session, on her part...

"Lovely!" Charles congratulated Hank, and the young man actually grinned a bit, looking more pleased than Catrin had seen him up to this point. He stepped forward slightly, gesturing them back.

"Ah, erm, sorry," he murmured, clearly wanting them to step out of the way. Everyone made sounds of agreement and moved back against the wall, where they had been standing. Catrin couldn't help noticing that Erik had still not moved; he seemed to like being by himself. This didn't surprise her: his whole attitude seemed to be that he was outside the rest of the world... rather like her own, sometimes, actually. She tore her thoughts away from the man to look back at Hank, who was bending his knees as though preparing to jump.

_Where's he gonna jump, though? He's in the middle of the room!_

Catrin's curiosity was answered the next second, for Hank jumped straight up, doing a flip in midair and grabbing the edge of the super-sonic jet model with his feet; all of this was done within a single second, and all with the ease that a normal person might have when sitting down in a chair. Everyone made sounds of astonishment, then laughed, utterly pleased. Even Catrin was laughing, and she suspected that Erik might be, as well. Hank actually smirked, his arms and lab coat dangling beneath him as his feet took a firmer grip on the plane model.

"Ta-da!" he said sheepishly, and Catrin laughed again, surprising herself with her light-heartedness: she hadn't felt so calm, so happy, since the accident. Raven, giggling too, walked forward to stand right before Hank's face: he'd jumped so high that upside-down, it was now the same height as hers, as well as Catrin's.

"You're amazing!" she enthused, though in a lowered voice intended just for Hank, and Catrin felt another wave of irritation: she wished the girl would stop trying to flirt with this kid. Hank, however, looked pleased, giving the blond an actual wide smile, which made Catrin's heart sink even further.

"Really?" he asked, and Catrin wanted to gag: it just wasn't fair! ...whatever "it" was... Raven grinned again, nodding, and Catrin suddenly felt the urge to make a move.

"'Course you are," she said shortly, stepping forward too and tossing her bright red hair over her shoulder without thinking, "Now, the thing is, if you weren't ticklish, you could rule the world with that ability." She raised an eyebrow, smirking slightly. "You're not, are you?" Everyone laughed again, including Hank.

"Excuse me?" he asked, raising his eyebrows, which looked odd upside-down, to say the least. Catrin realized what she'd just said and how odd it had been, and hastily looked away.

"Ah, forget it," she muttered, "Wasn't that funny of me, anyway..." Hank stared at her thoughtfully for a few seconds, then lightly hopped back down, careful to avoid landing on or kicking her or Raven. Up close, it was even more obvious how tall he was: Catrin and Raven were about the same height (Catrin only had guesses as to how tall this was, since she hadn't been actually measured for years, though she suspected herself to be about 5'7" or so), and he towered over them by a good seven inches, a full head.

"Sure it was,"he told her, "Just wasn't expecting it, that's all." He went back over to put on his shoes and socks, leaving Catrin feeling bewildered... and mildly pleased.

"So! What now?" Charles put in, and Catrin remembered that the rest of the room had been watching all of this. While Raven didn't seem to mind, Catrin certainly did: she flushed a deep red and hastily walked over to stand beside Erik, who raised an eyebrow at her, smirking.

"Was that fun?" he asked her in an undertone; Catrin shot him a glare that would peel paint.

"Shut your mouth, if you know what's good for you, Erik, or I'll take off your eyebrows," she snapped back, though just as softly. Erik's other eyebrow went up: he now looked intrigued as well as amused.

"Really? You could do that?" He leaned back against the wall, smirking at her again. "I'd like to see you try, Miss Sinclair... especially since I have no idea what you're capable of, yet." He glanced over at Charles, who was talking excitedly with the others and Hank. "Lucky Charles, getting to know everything about all of us without even having to try..." Catrin, who had been intending to make another sharp comment to the man, stopped halfway through the first word, closing her mouth as she tried to figure out what to think about this comment of Erik's. Was he really jealous of Charles? Or was he just pretending to be?

"I-I guess," she muttered finally, then turned away, intending to go back to the other group. The sight of Raven talking to Hank while standing unnecessarily close made her decide against it though. She didn't notice it at first, but her irritation triggered her fire abilities: within seconds, her hands and arms were covered in flame. Moira, who happened to glance at Catrin just then, gasped in horror, and everyone else whipped around and made similar sounds of surprise.

"Oh my God!" Raved cried, looking horrified, and Catrin had to fight down a laugh.

"Hey, just another show-off moment," she retorted, crossing her arms across her chest, making sure to control the flames enough that they wouldn't burn her shirt off, "Not a requested one, but hey, unplanned moments are always better, right?" she added, raising an eyebrow. Erik, who was still behind Catrin, laughed aloud, surprising her, but Hank, who Catrin couldn't helped glancing at, looked more thoughtful than amused.

"Fascinating," he said simply, walking over to her and holding out his hands hesitantly, as though wanting to touch her but not wanting to burn himself. Charles walked over, as well, a growing smile on his face.

"Amazing... I thought you controlled water, Catrin," he said, tilting his head at her.

"So did I," Moira added, coming over, as well. She smiled slightly at Catrin. "That's beautiful, you know," she told the girl, making Catrin blush again, unsure what to think.

"Er... I guess... really dangerous, though," she muttered, "In fact, please don't get to close, all of you, I don't want to burn anyone..." She took a step back, forgetting that Erik was there, only to have him put his hand in the small of her back to stop her. Catrin jumped nearly a foot in the air, gasping in surprise, and whirled around, fire spreading over the rest of her body in a rush. Everyone took a step back from her... except Hank. He moved closer, apparently ignoring the heat of the fire, and stared at her as though she were the most amazing thing he'd ever seen.

"That is... that's..." he began, then paused, clearly trying to think of a word. "Spectacular," he said finally, "Really, quite spectacular..." Catrin felt herself blush, and suddenly felt pleased that she was already on fire: no-one would notice, now.

"You really think so?" she asked, unconsciously repeating a similar sentiment to his earlier one. Hank nodded, his blue eyes drinking her in.

"We should have some sort of... form, or something," Charles murmured, clearly trying not to interrupt but failing utterly. Somehow, Catrin didn't care: she was too busy staring back at Hank, trying to have a Charles-ish moment and read his thoughts. Unfortunately, she got nowhere, but for some reason this didn't bother her. "Something we can use to keep track of what everyone can do, yes?" Charles elaborated, and the two CIA agents in the room nodded.

"Good idea," the male agent agreed, "Hank? Something you feel like doing?" Hank almost but not quite flinched at his name, then tore his eyes away from the fire around Catrin to look at the man.

"Um... sure, I'll write it up right away," he agreed, giving Catrin one last look and half-smile before wandering off. Catrin watched him as he went, feeling rather pleased with herself... until he paused by Raven, who still stood back where she had been standing, and murmured something to the blond. Raven, who had looked almost... sulky? smiled widely at the boy, and Catrin's heart sank back into gloom. She carefully put the fire out, then put her hands on her hips.

"Anything around here we can eat? I'm starved."

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><p>Aaaaand there we go! Thanks for reading, and please leave me a review...<p> 


	4. Exploration and Discovery

Hello, hello, hello! I'm terribly sorry for taking soooooo long on this... I fail at life... *sniff*

I've had this chapter ready for a while, but I didn't want to post it because I got hung up on a later chapter and wanted to get that sorted out before I put this one up. Most of the problem came about because my wonderful beta was on her honeymoon, but I can't really blame her for not wanting to read my story during that, so... Can everyone send her good wishes in your reviews? She's actually my sister as well as my beta, so I'd really appreciate it!

I've gotten loads of wonderful reviews on the last chapters; in fact, several of them on the last one were about how the "battle" between Catrin and Raven for Hank had started! These amused me, seeing as I knew how things go later in the story... You'll get to see a bit more of that "battle" in this chapter, so please enjoy! Plus, I've got a surprise for you at the end, so please read the whole chapter and leave a review when you're done.

Again, thanks to all of my lovely readers/reviewers, and a special thank you to my beta, SilverTortoise!

Disclaimer: I don't own X-Men or any of the characters in this... though I rather wish I could own Hank McCoy... :D

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><p>Chapter Three: Exploration and Discovery<p>

It was several hours later that Catrin found herself wandering around the many corridors of the CIA facility, trying to find out where everyone else had got to. The agent in charge, the man they'd arrived with earlier, had given them a little more of a tour and had rooms assigned to them, but Catrin still felt curious about the place. It was so big, and contained so many things... she simply had to look at some of them, right? Besides, she'd already filled out the form that Hank had written up for all of them... weren't they expected to turn them in or something? So, the form folded and stuffed into the back pocket of her jeans, she'd wandered out of her tiny room and off to explore.

So far, she hadn't seen anyone she knew, just a few CIA agents in suits who stared at her in confusion and curiosity. Catrin always hurried past these men, unable to keep from thinking of the men who had terrorized her in past years... and of the man she'd killed because of it. Still, none of them bothered her, or even said one word to her, which was reassuring.

_I wonder if Hank's in that room from earlier, the lab or whatever, _Catrin mused, turning yet another corner, _If I could only find it, though! Damn confusing corridors..._

She heard voices ahead of her and slowed down, not able to keep from eavesdropping. It had saved her on so many occasions from plots against her on the streets that it had become a bit of a habit.

"- Go ahead. Take the blood."

_That's Raven's voice... who's she with?_

Catrin crept up to another corner and peeked around, realizing at the last second that the room beyond was, in fact, the lab she'd been looking for all along. After a few seconds, she spotted Raven and, to her irritation, none other than Hank, sitting on a low ledge inset into the wall on the opposite side of the room from where Catrin and the others had stood earlier in the day. She almost growled in frustration over the other girl's apparent need to flirt with the young man. She was currently kneeling in a rather provocative pose, leaning towards Hank and holding her arm out to him, resting it in his lap in what could be considered quite a forward way.

_God, I sound like my mother..._

This thought both surprised and angered Catrin; it wasn't that she didn't want to sound like her mother, it was that any thought of her mother, her four-years-dead mother, hurt her to the core... and she was already feeling vulnerable enough at the moment without any help from old memories. She peered across the room, unashamedly watching the goings-on, as Hank carefully injected a needle into Raven's arm. Or... no, Catrin realized, he was withdrawing something. Blood, as Raven had already mentioned. He looked up, a bit awkwardly, Catrin noticed, at Raven, saying something she couldn't hear; she smiled at him, then started to lean forward, obviously intending to kiss him. Catrin gagged silently, wanting to stop the pair but not sure how, though she never tore her eyes from the couple. That is, until a familiar voice spoke out loudly.

"Mmm... kinky!" It was Erik. He entered the room from the direction directly across from where Catrin was currently hiding, a smirk obvious on his face. Hank and Raven practically leaped apart; Catrin wasn't sure, but she thought Hank might just be blushing... As for herself, she was doubled over with silent laughter, both hands clamped firmly over her mouth in an attempt to keep from being heard. What Erik had said was mildly disgusting, but it was still hilarious... at least to Catrin, who had been wanting something to say that would've been half as effective as stopping the kiss.

Erik said something else, which Catrin entirely missed due to her laughter, then made his way across the rest of the room before exiting. Hank scratched the back of his neck awkwardly.

"Er.. thanks, Raven... um... I-I'll just go set this down, shall I?" He hopped down from the ledge and walked over to a table with the blood-filled syringe, setting it down before turning back to the blond, who had gotten down from the ledge, as well.

"You're welcome," she answered; Catrin wasn't sure, but she thought the girl might actually be blushing, now, as well, "Um... I'd better go... I'll see you later, then, Hank?" She patted him on the arm, still smiling at him, before gathering up several bowls of what looked like snack food from the ledge and leaving the room. Catrin watched as Hank let out a heavy breath, his whole frame collapsing slightly as he did. He was still grinning hugely, apparently pleased with himself.

_Probably over the near-kiss, _Catrin thought grumpily, then realized that Hank was walking her way. _Damn! Ah, damn!_ She was hiding just outside the room, with no good reason for being there, and she'd just spied on him! She took several hasty steps back, pressing herself to the wall, only to feel the bulge in her back pocket. _Oh, yeah... the form!_ She stepped back a few more times, then walked, rather more heavily than normal so Hank would be sure to hear her footsteps, back towards the room before finally entering it. She nearly bumped into Hank, though, who had crossed over most of the room at this point.

"Oh... er... hey," she said lamely, "Um, hi. Um."

_God, I sound like an idiot..._ However, Hank grinned at the sight of her.

"Hi," he answered, "Er, can I help you?" Catrin looked up hastily, only to realize that he was looking as awkward as she currently felt, a new flush covering his cheeks as he watched her. She stood completely still for several seconds, utterly tongue-tied, before remembering what she'd been intending to say.

"Oh... yeah, I brought that form you made. I filled it out already, and I didn't know what to do with it, so I... I thought I'd give it back to you." She reached back and tugged the paper out of her back pocket, handing it to him sheepishly. Hank's grin grew even wider, and he gestured her towards the ledge.

"Thanks! I'm fairly sure your friend Mr. Xavier was supposed to get these, actually, but I'm interested to see if the layout I came up with was effective in recording personal data of this nature. Would you care to sit down?" He resumed his seat, this time sitting with his legs dangling over the edge of the ledge as he waited for Catrin to join him. She actually bit her lip in her uncertainty; was he always like this, having one girl leave after having her nearly kiss him only to invite another one to sit with him? Finally, though, she shrugged: what was the point of judging him right now? If he started to act weirder towards her, she could always run... Erik was apparently around somewhere, and maybe Raven was hanging around somewhere, as Catrin had been?

_I certainly hope not..._

"Sure, why not?" Catrin murmured, hopping up onto the ledge and crossing her legs in front of her: Hank's former posture. After a few seconds, she stuck her hand out to him, her movement almost brusque. "I'm Catrin. I know the paper says-" she nodded at the form in Hank's hand, "- but I just wanted to tell you... you know... the polite way..." Hank laughed quietly and took her hand, shaking it. He didn't hold it an overly-long time, a fact which encouraged Catrin but also somehow disappointed her... his hands were large, almost engulfing hers even though her own hands were long-fingered and therefore fairly large even for a girl her height. It felt...

… _dare I say... nice?_

"Hank, Hank McCoy," Hank answered, "A pleasure to meet you, finally. Or officially, rather... I suppose we met earlier, but since no-one introduced us I'm not sure whether it counted..."

"Oh, it counted," Catrin retorted, then felt herself flush. She wasn't used to having to watch her words, and currently it was backfiring on her. "Ahh... I, um, sorry, I mean, it counted, because I heard your name then, and I think Charles called me by mine, so we already knew each other's names before this. Not that I expected you to remember mine, I'm just saying, if you'd wanted to..." She stopped talking, blushing even more. Wow, she sounded dumb. WOW. Hank, however, didn't bat an eyelash.

"You're right, I did hear your name then," he told her, "And, actually, remembered it... I just didn't want to use it without your permission." He grinned at her, his thick, dark eyebrows flicking twice. "My mother raised me polite... or at least tried to. As I've been told by her often, though, she didn't succeed. So sometimes I try and prove her wrong on that point." Catrin couldn't help raising her own eyebrows at this, even as she smirked. She was also feeling pleased at the thought that he had, in fact, remembered her name... which was silly, she knew, but silliness seemed to be a disease she had caught that day.

"That makes sense, I guess," she replied, flipping her long red hair over her shoulder, "My mom..." She stopped herself again, biting her lip. Hank raised an eyebrow at her, and she finished, "My mom tried to do that, with me, too... with my brother, as well... I-I guess I've been letting her down, too..." Hank frowned slightly, opening his mouth to speak, then seemed to think better of it and looked down at the form, scanning the lines so fast that Catrin could literally watch his blue eyes flick back and forth like a metronome.

"Interesting..." he murmured, "So far, this seems to be working out..." He looked back up at her, smiling shyly. "I wasn't sure I'd managed to create something efficient, due to the difficultly most of us have even defining our unique abilities... especially since most of us haven't even tried before this..." He looked back down at the paper and grinned. "Why did you write 'all of the above' under 'Abilities? That seems a bit vague..." Catrin shrugged.

"Hey, it seemed to work..." Hank grinned broadly at her, reaching over and patting her hand lightly. Catrin stared down at her hand, then back up at him, as he answered her.

"I would've preferred a more accurate attempt at explaining, and I think Mr. Xavier would have, as well, but personally I do find this version amusing." He pushed up his glasses, his expression a bit awkward as he looked over at Catrin. She felt herself flush yet again and cursed herself. Unfortunately, she also cursed aloud.

"Damn..."

She immediately clapped one hand over her mouth, not sure what to do, but Hank actually laughed, a surprised but not disgusted or angry sort of laugh that encouraged Catrin a bit.

"No need to be upset," he told her, raising one eyebrow. Apparently, he'd misunderstood her reason for swearing, which both encouraged and frustrated Catrin even more. "It's not a bad thing, that you didn't explain. I was just... well... I must admit I was curious. I haven't met any other mutants before today, you see, though I figured there must be more. I mean, there are so many people in the world; according to statistics, there have to be at least a few others like me, or similar, anyway!" He cut himself off, blushing a bit as he looked down. "I-I'm sorry, I'm sure I must be boring you with my postulations..." Catrin shrugged, grinning slightly.

"Nah, you're fine," she said, her tone a mild one, for her, anyway, "I always hoped there were others, too. I mean, not that I'd wish things like what I can do on anyone else, but..." She paused, biting her lip. She accidentally over-did it and broke the skin, letting out a little yelp of pain. Hank started, looking worried.

"Are you alright? Do you require a-" He was already reaching out a hand to wipe off the drop of blood that was forming. Catrin waved him off, wiping it off herself onto the back of her hand.

"I'm fine!" she repeated, "Just a little cut... Besides, in a second, it won't even be there anymore..." The last phrase was said in a much darker undertone, which made Hank raise an eyebrow. He was opening his mouth to speak again, but Catrin cut him off. "Just watch, if you must know," she snapped, getting on her knees and leaning close to Hank, not even noticing she was as close as Raven had ever gotten to him, even when she'd nearly kissed him. Hank's eyes bugged slightly, his eyes flicking down to her lips... just in time to see the cut heal over. His eyes really did bulge, then, and he looked up to meet Catrin's green eyes, his blue ones bright with excitement.

'How did you... is that part of your mutation?" he nearly babbled, "My word, what a gift... how far does it extend? Have you ever broken a bone? Why didn't you put this on here, I would've loved to see-" Catrin's hand moved without her thinking to rest against Hank's mouth, shutting him up. He froze, his eyes still huge as he watched her almost nervously.

"The reason it's not on there is because I hate it," Catrin said with soft intensity, not moving away from Hank even an inch, "It saved me when I should've died... when I wanted to die. But my family died instead. So, for the past four years, I've been completely alone: no family, no friends, no home, no nothing... except all this shit I can do." She tilted her head at the boy before her, her nose so close to rubbing against his. "See why I hate it now?" Hank nodded, and Catrin removed her hand, resuming her previous sitting position. "Next subject?" she asked, one eyebrow raised testily. Hank paused, staring down at the space between them, then shook his head, looking back up at her.

"I'm sorry, Catrin, I really am," he said quietly, "That's... that's horrible. I'm so sorry." He shook his head again, smiling slightly. "But it's still a wonderful gift, you know... Just think, if you'd died then, none of this would be happening. And I know you'd probably prefer your family to any of this - as anyone would, really – but at least you still have the opportunity to make them proud. You can use these things, the healing, the fire, what Mr. Xavier said about water... you can help people with them, or at least try."

He smiled fully, then, and Catrin felt her stomach clench with butterflies; he was amazingly handsome when he smiled: nerdy glasses, lab coat, and all.

"So, don't despair... besides, you have people with you now, to encourage you. You've got a home here... at least for now." He looked down, looking a bit embarrassed, then reached over and took her hand. "I don't know if you'd like this or not, but since you said you had no friends... I'll be your friend, or at least try, if you'd like. I know I'm not the most, er, socially aware person out there, but I'll certainly try to meet your requirements in a friend, if you'd like me to." Hank's sincere, albeit rather bumbling, words shook Catrin to the core, and she felt her stomach clench again, but this time it was for an entirely different reason: she was afraid she was going to cry. She hadn't cried for years, since the one moment of weakness the day the water abilities had started, and before that she hadn't cried since before the accident. She felt a wetness in her eyes and swiped at them almost viciously.

"I-I'm not crying, I swear, I'm just... um..." she muttered, and Hank let out a soft laugh.

"It's okay, no need to be upset over it, even if you are... er, were. Hypothetically." Catrin looked back up at him, surprising herself with a laugh of her own.

"You catch on quick, Hank McCoy," she told him, and Hank grinned.

"Comes of being a child genius, I guess," he retorted, making Catrin laugh again.

"You're not a child... wait, are you? How old are you, anyway? Charles said you graduated at 15 earlier, but that gives me no clue about now..." Hank smirked, pushing up his glasses again, releasing her hand to do so. Catrin had forgotten he'd been holding it, so the reminder made her blush again.

"I am 20 years old. The same age as you, according to this." He held up her form, raising an eyebrow at her. "Actually, I'm a bit older, judging by the birthdate you listed... but only by a few months." He took her hand again, apparently without any feelings of self-consciousness. "Is that one of your friendship requirements, that we be close to the same age? Of course, if you require someone older than you, I still fit the mold, but if you prefer younger people-" Catrin cut him off with a laugh, gently squeezing his hand.

"You'll do fine, Hank," she replied, "Besides, I don't know a thing about being friends with someone anymore – no practice, see – so anyone would do, really." Hank looked up hastily, trying and failing to hide a slightly worried, sad expression. Catrin realized that he probably had just taken her words the wrong way, and hastened to explain. "Ah, I mean... I mean, I do want you as a friend, but I might not be the best one back... sorry in advance?" Hank laughed, then, understanding, and Catrin grinned too, pleased with herself for having managed what had been an underrated activity for her, before the accident: an actual conversation with a new friend. Not even thoughts of other girls flirting with this young man could bring her down, now... she had a part of him, a spot in his mind and heart, that no-one else would ever be able to steal from her, no matter how hard they tried...

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><p>And there we are! I hope that was fun to read, I tried my hardest to make them stay in character and be believable... Let me know what you think in review form? And now for your surprise... though you probably already know what it is if you're subscribed to this story, lol! I'm posting another chapter right away, so you get two at once! YAY!<p>

Anyway, thanks for reading! Please review!


	5. Cerebro

And here's another chapter for you! This one's a little... different than the past ones, since it's mostly intended to build relationships between the characters, but hopefully you guys will still enjoy it. Also, some of the events aren't EXACTLY like those of the movie, but once again hopefully you won't mind... I did my best! *cringes* And, in some ways, I think this way is better... though that could just be because Catrin's there, lol!

Please review, as always, I LOVE to hear from my readers, to know what they think of my writing. Plus, more reviews = more motivation = more writing! So please, do as I bid thee and review, my minions... :D

A special thanks to my beta, SilverTortoise!

Disclaimer: I don't own X-Men.

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><p>Chapter Four: Cerebro<p>

Catrin awoke the next morning and stretched, actually smiling at the thought of a new day. It was an unusual feeling for the girl: usually, days were a chore, a hardship that she had to overcome. Now? Now that she had friends, or at least acquaintances, that cared for her, things seemed much more on the up-and-up.

She clambered out of bed, put on an old bathrobe loaned to her by Charles, grabbed her button-up shirt and jeans from the day before (not having anything else in the way of shirts or pants to put on), and dug out some underclothes from the small stack Raven had given her. They were close enough to the same size in their lower bodies that things like jeans and underwear could be shared between them, but Catrin hoped that she might have the choice of getting at least one other shirt and bra soon: it would be wonderful to have something that fit her properly, not too big, as these new things were, or too small, as her old clothes had been.

There was only one bathroom on the hall Catrin was staying on, since the facility wasn't technically designed for large numbers of people, other than the agents, to stay for more than a very short period of time. However, having a bathroom that was shared by only six or seven fairly neat people was much nicer than having to share one with an entire shelter-full of homeless people, so Catrin couldn't bring herself to mind the conditions. She passed several doors on her way down the hall, and couldn't help wondering which ones her companions were behind; she knew that Charles and the others were staying on this hall with her, but she hadn't bothered to notice which rooms they'd been assigned the day before: remembering which was her own room was hard enough, in this place.

Raven came out of the bathroom just as Catrin reached it, and smiled widely at the sight of the approaching redhead.

"Good morning, Catrin!" she greeted her with an enthusiasm which Catrin, in her unpracticed social state, couldn't tell if it was fake or not. Catrin nodded to the blond, giving her a half-smile.

"Hi, Raven... did you sleep well?" Raven shrugged, her damp hair clinging around her shoulders.

"Well enough... I had some weird dreams, but other than that it was fine. The bed was surprisingly comfortable, did you notice?" It was Catrin's turn to shrug, one eyebrow raising as she did so.

"I didn't, not really... beds aren't something I'm used to, see." Raven's happy expression fell slightly, and she reached over to pat Catrin's arm gently. Catrin couldn't help flinching slightly; she still wasn't used to such gestures.

"I'm so sorry, I forgot... well, you have them now, and I'm sure Charles will make sure and continue to help you." Raven tilted her head thoughtfully. "He helped me, you know, when I was a kid. It's sort of his thing, I think, but he's very good at it. And, if he doesn't do a good job with helping you, I'll bug him into doing it, okay?" Catrin's other eyebrow joined the first one at the top of her forehead: she hadn't known that Raven had needed help from Charles, as well: she'd assumed that the girl had met him at school or something, not in the midst of a desperate situation on her part.

_Maybe she's not as bad as I thought..._

This thought made up Catrin's mind: she would try to be friends with Raven, too... even if the blond did flirt with Hank rather too much for Catrin's taste. Maybe they could talk about it... that was something girls did, wasn't it, talk about boys? She had memories of doing just that before the accident; maybe she could take it up again, now.

"Thanks," she said simply, hesitating before patting Raven's shoulder, as well. The girl smiled brightly, then turned to go, only to halt at the sound of a man's voice.

"Good morning, ladies... I'm supposed to tell you that after you're neatened up, our... er... hosts, are providing a breakfast of sorts." Erik had rounded the corner into their corridor, silently as usual, and was now leaning on the wall a few feet away from them, a slight smirk on his face. Raven, to Catrin's surprise, actually flushed at the sight of him; she even twiddled with the fabric of her bathrobe, biting her lip with an expression in her eyes that Catrin couldn't recognize. Catrin, on the other hand, stared defiantly at Erik, half-daring him to make a comment about her attire.

"Thanks, Erik," she answered for the both of them, since Raven seemed beyond speech, "We'll see you then, alright?" She turned back to Raven, one eyebrow up. "I'm going to take a shower now. Will you need the bathroom again? Need to do your hair, or anything?" Raven shook her head, glancing at Erik again: Catrin wished with some frustration she knew what the girl's expression meant.

"I can do it in my room. Thanks, Catrin, I'll see you in a bit..." And with that, she hurried away, giving Erik one last glance over her shoulder as she went. Erik smirked slightly and waved at her, which made her smile, for some reason, before hurrying on. Catrin shot Erik a look, attempting to figure out what he'd meant by all that, but when she couldn't even guess she decided to ask.

"What was all that about?" she snapped, "Why'd you scare Raven off?" Erik chuckled, actually looking surprised.

"Did I? I wasn't intending to." He turned and strode off in the opposite direction from the one Raven had taken. "Perhaps you simply find the subconscious feelings in those around you without realizing it or understanding them, Miss Sinclair," he called back to her without turning around, before disappearing from Catrin's view. She shook her head, having no idea how to take this, before shrugging and going into the bathroom to get dressed.

Some time later, she emerged, her red hair still damp around her shoulders, only to nearly bump into Charles, who was wearing a white undershirt-type t-shirt and flannel pants. He smiled at her at first, then frowned slightly and touched her cheek with gentle fingers.

"Are you alright, Catrin? You're in a bit of... turmoil, today. Did something happen?" Catrin, who had forced herself not to flinch away from Charles – she knew for a fact he wouldn't hurt her, and therefore didn't want to give him any reason for him to think that she thought he would – shook her head, lowering her eyes from the man's. It was a bit odd, yet amusing, to her that they were exactly the same height.

"Nah... not really," she lied, only to have him raise an eyebrow at her and tap his forehead. She rolled her eyes, almost but not quite smiling. "Okay, okay, crazy mind-reading man... It's Erik. He sort of... I don't know..."

"Frightens you?" Charles finished for her softly. Catrin shrugged. He gave her a small smile. "He's been through a lot, my dear," he told her, "But he won't hurt you. His anger is focused on others, not us. Just don't allow your own anger to cloud your judgment, hmm?" He patted the side of her face gently, then strode into the bathroom. Catrin stared after him for several seconds, her brow furrowed in confusion, before shaking her head and going back to her room to drop off her robe. After that, she headed off the way Erik had headed, hoping it was the right way to wherever the food was. She was feeling hungry again...

Breakfast was a simple affair, with bagels, cream cheese, coffee, and rather runny eggs, prepared in haste by one of the agents. They had their own food prepared by a cook, but since the visitors were newly there they had been forgotten in the breakfast preparations until after the agents had all eaten. Catrin and Raven were the only people eating at the moment, though Charles, now fully-dressed, joined them about halfway through their meal. He hurried through his food, apologizing to the girls for his haste; apparently, according to what he told them, he had a meeting with the head agent to get to. Catrin shrugged, only half-listening: she'd just been distracted by the fact that Hank had just entered the room to grab a cup of coffee. He spotted Catrin and Raven and smiled, making Catrin blush. Raven saw her face and frowned slightly, then looked where Catrin was looking and smiled back at Hank.

"Hank! Join us!" she called, waving the tall young man over. It was his turn to blush, but he headed over to their table, beneath the one large window in the room. Charles, who had just stood up to go to his meeting, glanced between Catrin, Raven, and Hank before smirking and patting the two girls on the shoulder.

"I'll see you two later, alright? Have a good time," he murmured, and Catrin couldn't help noticing yet again the marked difference between the way he said it and the way Erik would have said something similar. Erik would have teased them about something like this, whereas Charles just seemed at most amused. The man hurried off, and Hank arrived at their table, looking down at them rather nervously.

"Are you certain you'd like me to join you?" he asked, "I've never been very good at discussing things this early in the morning, you see, since I'm more of a night owl. I'll likely be a bit of a bore..." Raven laughed, and Catrin couldn't help smirking.

"Don't be silly, of course we want you!" Raven answered, pushing Charles' old chair out with her foot, "Now, sit down, there's a good boy." Catrin raised an eyebrow at this address – it seemed to her to be the way one would talk to a dog or something – but Hank seemed pleased, immediately taking the offered seat. He looked over at Catrin, a small smile on his face.

"Good morning, Catrin," he greeted her, "Did you sleep well?" Catrin wondered why everyone so far had asked her this question, but she was also secretly pleased that Hank had asked her how she was before he had asked Raven.

"Fine... funnily enough, you're not the first person to ask me that, Hank," she muttered, giving him a slight smile. He nodded, looking pleased, then turned to Raven.

"And you, Raven?" he asked politely; Catrin thought it was probably her imagination, or rather she hoped it was, but she thought he might be giving the blond's form a glance as he spoke to her. Raven, however, either didn't notice or didn't care... or Catrin really had imagined it...

"Great, thanks... say, when did you meet Catrin? I was looking forward to introducing you to her today!" Raven actually seemed to be serious about this; her expression wasn't the slightest bit jealous, or anything like. Catrin really wasn't sure how to take this, but Hank took it easily in stride for someone who claimed to not be good at social interaction.

"I met her last night – er, yesterday evening," he answered Raven, flushing slightly at his slightly odd initial word choice, "Right after you left, actually. She came in to bring me her form, the one I gave all of you yesterday... did you finish yours, by the way? I believe I'm supposed to turn them all in to Mr. Xavier, but if I have none to turn in save Catrin's and mine he might be a bit upset." Raven laughed, shaking her head.

"No, I didn't even look at it, actually... I was more distracted with what we were talking about, yesterday. And besides, Charles knows me better than anyone, I think, so he really doesn't need to read mine." Catrin couldn't help the look that came onto her face: a rather disbelieving one, stemming from the fact that all she'd seen of Hank and Raven's conversation had been the attempted kiss. Raven caught the look and frowned slightly. "Is something wrong, Catrin?" Catrin shook herself, attempting to look cheery... which didn't really work.

_I really need to practice that..._

"Nah, I'm great," she lied, glad that Charles wasn't there this time to catch her, "I was just wondering what you and Hank were talking about yesterday, that's all... somehow, I missed you two..."

_Not really..._

"Oh... well, Hank can probably explain that better than me!" Raven said, her face clearing, "Go on, Hank, I wouldn't mind hearing it again: it was a bit confusing, actually..." Catrin had to fight not to roll her eyes at this, since she was thinking of the near-kiss and wondering how it could be "a bit confusing", but she dutifully turned to Hank, raising an eyebrow at him. He blushed before hesitantly explaining.

"Well, you see, I asked Raven to come meet with me, due to the nature of her mutation, which had been told to me by the director already. I'm attempting to develop a sort of cure, you see, that will help those of us with some sort of... physical mutation, like Raven's... a-and my own." He glanced down at his hands, which were folded in his lap, then continued, making steady eye contact with his cup of coffee. "Because of Raven's ability to change form, I had the idea that if perhaps I could get a look at some of her blood, I might be able to determine what part of her gene sequence lends her that ability. If I could do that, I might just be able to develop a-a vaccine that would target mutated genes having to do with physical appearance, and perhaps reverse the mutation enough that I... or we, rather... would look more..."

"Normal?" Catrin finished for him, raising an eyebrow. Suddenly, the bit she'd seen of the conversation from yesterday didn't seem so bad... if only Raven hadn't had to try and flirt! Hank nodded, finally looking back up at her, his blue eyes intense.

"I certainly hope so," he answered softly. The three young people sat in silence for a few seconds, all thinking about the prospect of this: to be normal... what would it be like? The moment was interrupted by the entrance of Moira, who looked very excited.

"Come along, all of you!" she called, smiling at them all, "We've just got the go-ahead to start looking for more mutants... with the help of a contraption designed by you, Hank, or so I've heard." Hank looked up at her, suddenly smiling brightly: the difference in his demeanor from moments ago was enough to make Catrin dizzy.

_How does he switch like that?_ She wondered, then nearly grinned as she thought of her own violent switches in mood. _I guess I do it, too... never mind, then..._

"Cerebro? Oh, excellent! I was hoping that would come in handy. I only hope I've got it properly calibrated to Mr. Xavier's mind -" The young man was up and halfway out the door before he noticed that the three women were watching him with amused expressions. "Er... after you?" he murmured, flushing, and Catrin couldn't help laughing as she got her feet. Raven got up too, and Moira followed them to the door.

"What's this thing you're worrying about, again?" Catrin asked as she reached Hank; she paused while the other two women passed her so that she was walking beside the tall boy. He smiled at her, actually giving her a genial wink.

"You'll see!" And that was the last he'd say about it until they'd met up with Charles and Erik at one of the sets of doors leaving the building. Greetings were exchanged between all in the group before they all went out and started across the large lawn there. There was an odd sort of rounded construction, raised off the ground, across the grass from them; Catrin's eyebrows shot up at the sight of it.

"What's that thing?" she asked, pointing at it. Hank gave her a look, an almost wounded one, as though she'd insulted him personally. This made Catrin even more confused, and she glanced around at the others, wondering if they had any sort of explanation for his behavior. Charles chuckled, shaking his head.

"No need to be offended, my friend," he told Hank, "It is a bit of an oddity, and we're all curious, I assure you. Though I can see why the term 'thing' can be a bit, er, painful for a scientist such as yourself to hear." Raven, Moira, and Erik all laughed, and Catrin felt herself blush.

"Sorry..." she muttered, but Hank didn't look upset anymore.

"It's alright," he told her, "Here, let's go up, and I'll explain the entire thing to all of you..." They had reached the contraption, and Hank led the way up the steps into it. "This device can extend the mental range of mutants with telepathic abilities, such as Mr. Xavier," he told them, hurrying over to indicate a rather odd structure in the middle of the sphere: it looked to Catrin like a helmet suspended in midair. "I call it Cerebro." Charles chuckled, raising an eyebrow, and Hank smirked slightly. "I know, the Spanish for 'brain'..." He patted the helmet. "We attach the electrodes here to your scalp, and this-" he went over to a set of computer drives with a control panel in between them, "- records the readings and prints off the locations of the mutants you locate!" Catrin's mouth dropped open in shock; she had no idea how anyone could possibly have the brain power to come up with and make something like this: it seemed impossible.

_Super-smart, indeed..._

"You designed this?" Raven gasped, sounded just as surprised as Catrin. Hank nodded, blushing, and Catrin couldn't help grinning.

_At least he's modest about it..._

The others were looking around them, too; Charles and Moira were smiling, but as usual Erik's expression was hard to read. Hank fiddled with the mechanisms on the panel, then carefully led Charles around to the helmet, placing him under it. It was then that Catrin noticed the railing surrounding that area of the device, and wondered what it was for... was Charles going to be in danger of falling down?

"See, I put this on you," Hank was murmuring, now lowering the helmet, "And... are you sure we can't shave your head?" He looked hopeful, but Charles' rather stern expression said plenty before he even replied.

"Don't touch my hair." Catrin laughed aloud, and she was surprised to see that Erik was smirking, too. She wanted to make some sort of comment about Charles' adamant refusal, perhaps tease him about being too fond of his hair, but now Hank was going back to the controls and starting the machine. She moved over beside him, watching his motions closely: even if she couldn't understand what he was doing, she could watch... right? He didn't seem to mind her presence there, but when Raven came over as well he looked a bit more flustered: there wasn't much room for his tall frame, now. Catrin, discouraged, moved back around to watch Charles, who was slowly closing his eyes, preparing to use his power. The helmet finally reached his head, and suddenly his hands shot out, gripping the rails beside him tightly as his mouth dropped open in shock and, perhaps, mild pain. Without thinking, Catrin reached out and grabbed his right hand where it gripped the rail, but he carefully shook her off.

"_Not now, I'm alright,"_ she heard in her mind, but at such a far greater volume than she'd heard before that her eyes began to water. In his current state of concentration, he had apparently forgotten his promise to her about not speaking in her mind, but a few seconds later he seemed to remember. "This is amazing..." he breathed aloud, and everyone let out a sigh of relief. A sound like a typewriter sounded from around the other side of Catrin, and she saw Hank grin in utter pleasure.

"It's working!" he exclaimed, pointing to where a piece of paper was being written on by the computer; Catrin ran around Charles to peer at it, only to see letters and numbers in a rather familiar pattern: map coordinates. Raven looked, too, and let out a little cheer, grabbing Hank's arm and shaking it in her excitement. He smiled at her, but his blue eyes drifted back to Catrin, meeting her green ones squarely. "Call that a 'thing' now?" he asked in a near-whisper, for her ears only, but he was smiling. Catrin grinned back, hoping she was right in guessing he was kidding.

"Nah... now it's a groovy thing," she retorted, making Hank laugh softly. There was a sound behind her, and Charles detached himself from the machine.

"A fascinating experience," he exclaimed, gasping slightly from the exertions of his mind, "But, now that we've got someone to go after, let's focus on that... Erik, I want you to come with me, please. Right away." Catrin noted that he didn't say this as a request: it was definitely an order. Erik shrugged, silently agreeing, and Charles copied down the coordinates in a notebook he'd pulled out of the breast pocket of his jacket. "We'll need a car, Moira," he told the CIA agent with them, who nodded, already heading for the exit to Cerebro. "We'll be back later," Charles told Catrin and the others, heading for the exit, too; Erik was already out, right behind Moira, "And hopefully, we'll have a new member of the team for you!" He gave them a little salute, chuckling to himself, before leaving Catrin, Hank, and Raven alone in the machine. Catrin waited for a few seconds for anyone else to take the opportunity to say anything, and when no-one did, she grinned.

"Now what?" Hank and Raven looked at her, and Catrin shrugged, smirking. "Hey, c'mon... there's gotta be something fun around here... who's with me?" The other two glanced at each other, then back at her before grinning in unison.

"I like the way you think, Catrin," Hank murmured, switching off Cerebro, "Shall we?" He held out his arms for Catrin and Raven to take, the way a true gentleman might, before leading the girls out into the sunshine.

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><p>Alright, I hope that was fun! Please review and let me know what you think, eh? Until next time!<p> 


	6. The Others

Hellooooo my dear readers! Hope you haven't missed me so much that you've lost interest...

I've had this chapter written for ages, but I decided not to post any more chapters (since the last one) until First Class came out on DVD and I had funds to purchase it. Both of those things have occurred, so here's a new chapter for all of you! I'll be watching the movie again as soon as I can so that I can get muse back and start writing for you again!

There are several things in this chapter that don't exactly fit with events in this movie (just like in the last chapter), but I'm leaving them because, after all, events would be altered at least SLIGHTLY by the presence of Catrin. Also, some of them are things that I didn't remember at the time I was writing the chapter, so I hope you will simply forgive me for those...

Anyway, enjoy, and please leave a review at the end!

Disclaimer: All I own is my OC.

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><p>Chapter Five: The Others<p>

Over the course of the next several days, the bathroom on Catrin's hall became more than just a little taxed, due to the fact that new people were showing up every day. Within a few days, a line formed outside it in the mornings as people waited for the chance to shower and brush their teeth; it got so bad that Charles instituted a list of people who would take showers at night in order to free up enough time for everyone. Catrin joined the night list, not really caring one way or another: it was a free shower without anyone yelling at her to get out, what was there to complain about?

Still, it was a bit odd for her to suddenly be surrounded by so many others who all, without exception, treated her well... and, even more odd, understood her mutations. That first day with Cerebro, Charles and Erik had headed off to what they later explained had been a strip club to find one Angel Salvadore, a young woman who worked there. Catrin had laughed at the story... until she'd upset Angel. The girl was gorgeous, and extremely sure of herself - right up until anyone teased her about her line of work. Then she shut down completely and went off to sit by herself in a corner. Catrin, to her own surprise, not to mention the others, actually chased after her and apologized for her rudeness, and Angel came back, confident once more. Only Charles and Hank didn't seem at all surprised by this act of Catrin's: Charles gave her a little nod of approval, even, and Hank flashed her a quick grin.

"It was almost like Charles knew what you were gonna do!" Angel enthused later on; she, Catrin, and Raven were sitting on Raven's bed, having what Raven called a "girly" discussion. Catrin was doing her best to enjoy it, but personally she would've preferred going out to look for Hank so that they could talk about science or something... or rather, she corrected herself with a tiny grin, so that he could tell her more about it, since she didn't know anything but what she'd learned in school, which had been several hard years ago.

"That's because he probably did," Raven told the dark-skinned beauty, "He can read minds... that's how he found you, sort of..." She looked proud of her old friend, and Catrin couldn't blame her: Charles' mutation was amazing. Angel's eyes widened even as a smile grew in her face.

"Groovy..." she breathed, "I mean, he mentioned that, but it didn't really sink in... wow!" She looked from Raven to Catrin, her eyes still wide. "And you two... you're both... mutants... too?" she said the word "mutants" carefully, as though she was trying to get used to it. Raven nodded.

"We all are, here," she told Angel, "Well, most of us, except the agents and Moira. But yeah, there's me and Catrin here, and Charles, and Erik, and you..."

"And Hank," Catrin said absently, without even thinking about it. Angel's eyes shot her her, as did Raven's.

"The scientist one?" Angel asked, "With the glasses?" Catrin nodded, shifting uncomfortably; Raven was looking entirely too amused for Catrin's preference. "What can he do?" Angel went on, then shook her head, "Sorry, I don't know if that's rude to ask or not... never mind..." Raven laughed, but kindly, and patted the girl's upper arm, which was mostly covered with a large tattoo that looked to Catrin like a dragonfly's wing.

"It's alright, you can ask, Angel. He might show you, if you asked... he did us... it's amazing, right, Catrin?" Catrin nodded, feeling even more uncomfortable.

"Yeah... it's great..." Raven eyed her shrewdly, then smirked.

"You know, Catrin, I think you've got a bit of a crush on Hank, am I right?" Catrin stiffened, slowly raising her eyes to meet the blond's. Raven laughed softly at Catrin's expression. "Don't be mad! I'm not saying it's a bad thing!" Angel nodded, smiling now too.

"I can see why... really smart, sort of cute in a nerdy way... he's not really my type, though." Her smile turned more into a smirk. "Though how a girl like me can have a 'type' is beyond me..." Raven laughed again, but Catrin was still in shock... and a bit angry.

"What about you, Raven?" she muttered, "You seem a bit... interested in Hank..." Raven raised an eyebrow, smirking like Angel.

"I was, a bit... like Angel said, he's cute. But I'm more interested in that serum he said he's trying to make, the one that fixes physical mutations, than him... though don't tell him, I don't want to upset him!" She faded off, looking away from both of them. "Besides, I... I've sort of got my eye on someone else, now..." She looked back at Catrin, her eyes sparkling. "So go for it, if you want: Hank and I will just be friends, okay?" Catrin wasn't sure what to think of this – she hadn't been thinking in terms of doing a thing about her mild interest in the young man, and the fact that Raven and Angel seemed to think she was and should rather shocked her. Her mouth opened and closed silently several times before she managed to change the subject.

XXXXX

The next day, Charles used Cerebro again. He and Erik left, and later that evening returned with Armando Muñoz, a black kid who drove taxis and preferred to go by the nickname Darwin. He was tall, nearly but not quite as tall as Hank, and enjoyed telling jokes and listening to music. That night, the girls joined with him in the "cafeteria," as Raven jokingly called it, to talk, and Raven managed to convince Hank to join them. He seemed a bit nervous at first to Catrin, but soon he was joining in the conversation with more enthusiasm. She watched him carefully to see how he treated Raven, and was a bit disappointed to see that he still blushed often in her presence. Raven still acted a bit flirtatious towards him, but Catrin swiftly realized that she seemed to act this way with every boy: she treated Darwin the same way, with a teasing confidence that Catrin almost but not quite wished she could imitate. The discussion of mutations came up again, and at Angel's request Hank did indeed show off his abilities again, to her delight and Darwin's amusement.

"How do you get your feet into shoes?" he asked Hank, clearly actually curious, but it made Hank act uncomfortable again, and hasten to get his footwear back on. Catrin gave Darwin a raised-eyebrow expression that didn't need fire behind it to burn, and the boy looked flustered. "Hey, sorry," he muttered, "Didn't know it was a touchy subject..." Catrin shrugged, dropping her sharp gaze only to catch Raven watching her and looking amused. She glared at the girl and dropped heavily into her seat. It didn't help that it was right beside Hank's.

XXXXX

The following day, Raven burst into Catrin's room at an early hour and told her that the two of them and Angel were going shopping. Catrin sat up blearily, trying to figure out what in the world the girl could be referring to. Not taking no for an answer, or even explaining further, Raven ordered her to dress and meet her in the cafeteria in ten minutes. When Catrin arrived, Raven was in deep negotiation with Charles on the same subject.

"She can't just wear the same things forever!" Raven was protesting, "She's only got the one shirt and pair of jeans... what if they get dirty? She can't go around in your old bathrobe!"

"Actually, I don't mind," Catrin put in dryly, grabbing a bagel off one of the trays of breakfast items (which had been steadily improving over the last few days) and taking a bite. "I was homeless, remember?" she mumbled through her bite of bagel, "I'm used to it." Raven frowned, looking surprisingly firm.

"Well, you're not homeless anymore. C'mon, Charles, it'll only take a few hours. We'll only pick up the essentials, I promise! Just enough so that she doesn't have to wear the same thing for four days in a row or whatever its been. Please?" She gave Charles a pleading face, but she didn't really need to: Charles had already nodded his consent.

"Very well... I'll supply the funds. But I want someone to go with you, since you'll need to be driven..." He glanced around the room, looking first at Moira, who shook her head sadly.

"As much as I'd love to supervise a shopping trip – it would probably be the best assignment I've ever been given – I'm afraid I've got a meeting to attend in less than an hour. Sorry." Charles smiled at her reassuringly before resuming his glance over the room. His eyes lighted on Erik, who was sitting with Darwin, and he smiled slightly.

"Erik, my friend! Would you care to chaperone these young ladies on an important clothing mission?" Erik actually grinned, raising an amused eyebrow; Catrin had been noticing that the man had been loosening up over the last day or so, displaying what was actually a well-developed sense of wry humor.

"All you'll have to do is carry," Angel put in; the girl had come in in the middle of the discussion, but she clearly knew of the plan from beforehand. Erik shrugged, getting to his feet.

"I don't mind... as long as I don't have to help you choose anything, and as long as it won't be all day." He shot Charles a look. "We'll be going out recruiting again later, I assume?" Charles nodded.

"I'll use Cerebro while you're gone, so that I have the coordinates ready when you get back." Erik pondered this, then turned to Catrin and the other girls.

"Shall we?"

The trip took until about noon, and was relatively painless for all parties: even Catrin, who had been rather dreading the ordeal of having the other girls use her as a dress-up doll, wasn't feeling too bad. She was even happy with the purchases made for her; all of them were of a more casual style than, for instance, what Raven wore, which suited Catrin's taste just fine. She was even more pleased with the fact that she now had underclothes that fit properly, a luxury she hadn't had since the pre-accident days. Plus, in a rather unexpected turn of events, Erik had actually been a useful and entertaining companion for all of them; he could be quite charming when he wanted to be, Catrin thought. She just wished she didn't still have lingering doubts about him, as they seemed rather unfair, after today's kindnesses.

Erik and Charles left shortly after they got back, and Raven and Angel helped Catrin wash her new clothes. Angel had a few new things, too, as most of her old things had been outfits at the strip club. After that, they returned to the cafeteria to find that the men and the new recruit were already back. The young man, Alex Summers, was rather aloof, but this wasn't surprising to Catrin after Charles explained in a low tone that they had found him in a military prison. He was polite, however, and agreed to join the three girls, Hank, and Darwin later in the evening for another getting-to-know-you session. Charles smiled when he heard this arrangement; he seemed pleased that the young people were interested in building friendships. But, as he also informed them, he had gotten permission for them to use one of the agent's rec rooms, so that they wouldn't be stuck in the overly-large, echoic cafeteria again. This heralded a small cheer from a few of the teenagers present: only Catrin and Alex abstained from it, and Hank because he wasn't currently there (though Catrin suspected that he might have anyway – he wasn't usually that flamboyant).

That evening was even more fun than the last, for the rec room, with its couches, radio, fish tank, and pinball machine, was a much better place to spend time than the rather dreary cafeteria. For the most part, however, the teenagers only used a pack of cards that Darwin found in the room for entertainment that night; Darwin knew several card tricks that were mildly entertaining, even to Catrin, and none of them were surprised when Hank turned out to have an extremely good poker face and excellent strategy, winning several rounds in a row before Catrin, who had been watching him the entire time, figured out his playing style and wound up beating him. This did surprise everyone, which amused Catrin greatly: they didn't seem to realize that she was more intelligent than she let on. Even Alex, who had for the first part of the evening kept away from the group, claiming he didn't want to "hurt" them, had loosened up a bit by the end of the night: he had a nice smile, Catrin decided, but she personally preferred Hank's.

The subject of mutations wasn't even mentioned the entire evening.

XXXXX

The next day brought Sean Cassidy, a slightly younger teenager with a mild Irish accent and a fondness for making dry jokes. Catrin found herself laughing more than she had ever done in the entirety of the four years since the accident in that one night, as the group once again spent time together in the rec room. Charles, Erik, and Moira came and joined them for about an hour, which Catrin enjoyed, as well: she'd almost found herself missing Charles' company, in particular, during the days when the "adults" of the group, as they were referred to by the "kids," had left them alone. Another odd thing about their presence was the fact that they caused the teenagers to talk more to others in the group they had somewhat ignored before. At one point in that period of time, Catrin noticed that Alex was sitting off in a corner again and went to sit by him.

"Hey... alright?" she asked slightly awkwardly, still out of practice talking to people even though she'd had a great many opportunities to practice the past few days. Alex shrugged, not looking at her. She almost got up and went back to her old seat right then and there, but as she was just about to Charles looked straight at her from all the way across the room and pinned her in place with his gaze. He didn't even need to say a word, aloud or in her mind, for Catrin to know what he was telling her. "Er... so... what're you over here for, then?" she went on, trying to suppress a sigh of irritation at Charles' silent convincing. Alex gave her a sideways glance, then sighed, running his hand over his cropped blond hair.

"I'm just... I'm just worried things will get out of hand," he explained hesitantly, "My mutation isn't exactly people-friendly, see." Catrin actually grinned before holding her hand in front of his face.

"Less people-friendly than this?" she asked, before slowly igniting her whole hand on fire. Alex gasped, sitting back abruptly and causing everyone else in the room to look around and likewise gasp. Angel even let out a little scream. All of them were grinning or generally looking impressed, though, Catrin noted with a smirk of her own.

"Ah, ah, um," Alex stammered, looking utterly shocked, then slowly he grinned. "I guess not... how are you doing that, anyway? It's not burning you..." Catrin shrugged and stood, flipping her hair over her shoulder before putting her hand out.

"It's a gift and a curse, alright?" she answered, then strode back over to the group and flopped down in her old seat, next to Hank. After a few seconds, Alex got up too and took a seat beside Sean.

"Well done," a voice whispered softly in Catrin's ear from the side Hank was sitting on, but when she looked around he was talking to Raven. Later on while waiting in line with Erik, Alex, and Darwin – the other "night list" people besides Sean, who they were letting go first on his first day – Catrin wondered if she'd just imagined the entire incident...

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><p>Soooo... was that good? Bad? What did you guys think of Raven's description of how she feels about Hank? I got the feeling that she should begin developing feelings for Erik Earlier in the movie than was shown, but I personally think that some of her actions from earlier could easily be interpreted as being the beginnings of attraction for him... just my take. Plus, it leaves Hank free for Catrin!<p>

Please review! Reviews make me want to write more!


	7. Choose Your Name, Choose Your Fate

OMG guys... OMG. It's back. Fury and the Beast is back! XDDD

Well... for now it is, anyway. I just realized a few days ago that I had several chapters that I wrote AGES ago but never posted that you guys might like to see. I read over them, and, while there are a few mistakes/continuity issues (please bear with me on them!), they are totally worth posting. So here's the first one! I'll be posting the others over the next few days.

Also, rereading this story has given me a renewed determination to at least attempt finishing it! I'm planning to go watch the movie again after posting this, and maybe start a new chapter.

As always, pleeeeeease review, as it will let me know if people are still interesting in this story or not! Thanks so very much!

Disclaimer: I don't own X-Men... I do own Catrin.

P.S. Please watch my profile for possible new stories coming out soon... especially if you are a fan of BBC's Sherlock... XD

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><p>Chapter Six: Choose Your Name, Choose Your Fate<p>

The next day resulted in the first failure of the recruiting attempt. Charles and Erik were both disgruntled and amused by the encounter they'd had with a man, apparently older than any of the teenagers by several years, in a bar.

"He even cursed at us!" Charles commented as he told the story, making the younger people who were there laugh uproariously: the thought of anyone being angry at or swearing at Charles for no good reason was just too funny of a mental image. Erik chuckled, as well, probably as a result of the fact that he had been there to see the event, Catrin guessed.

"What'd he say?" Sean called, his face lit up with amusement. Darwin and Alex nodded eagerly, hoping for more information on the subject, but Charles shook his head, looking stern.

"Not a word I want to hear any of you saying," was all he would tell them. Catrin couldn't help smirking at this as she shook her own head.

"I'll probably let you down, then, Charles," she retorted, "Because I happen to like swearing... gets those deep feelings across, eh?" The other teenagers laughed, but they also looked at her a bit oddly, as did Charles. She bit her lip, suddenly wishing she hadn't said anything, but then a hand fell on her shoulder.

"As long as you don't say whatever word it was Charles forbid us from, we'll live," Hank said from behind her, and when Catrin flinched and looked over her shoulder, he smirked down at her. "It's just me... no need to jump..." he murmured, patting her twice before removing his hand. The others looked amused again as a result of the young man's first words, and Catrin felt grateful to him for what felt like the hundredth time in the past five days: he was always there to catch her mistakes in tact, it seemed, and to help her feel more included, even though he had dubbed himself a "socially awkward" person.

_Why does he have to be so..._

Catrin's thoughts were cut off when she glanced over at Raven and saw that the girl was looking amused again. She'd obviously seen the exchange, and perhaps even detected Catrin's gratefulness.

_She's thinking I'm trying to get Hank to like me... again!_ _Well, I won't give her the satisfaction of thinking she's seeing me make a fool of myself... besides, Hank likes her as more than a friend, not me... still..._

Angry with herself for being upset about this, Catrin strode away from the conversation and planned to not return to the company of the others until the evening, hoping to get some alone time in her room.

"I'm just not used to being around so many people," she muttered to herself, flopping down on her bed and curling up on her side, pillowing her head with one arm, "So many, all the time, all talking me, asking me things..." She sighed, closing her eyes against the stinging in them. It was so silly how much she'd been wanting to cry, recently: this wasn't something that had plagued her before she'd met Charles, before all of this had started happening, but now it happened almost every day!

"Damn these emotions," she hissed to herself, her tone vehement, "Damn this whole thing!" She sat up, half-considering just getting up and leaving the facility, these people, everything. But, before she could make up her mind one way or another, there was a knock on her door. Catrin jumped, pulling her knees up to her chest and wrapping her arms around them as though this would protect her.

"Er... c-come in," she stammered, not really wanting to see anyone but resigning herself to her fate. When Hank opened the door, she felt herself flush.

_Great... another chance to make myself look like an idiot..._

"Charles said I should go after you," Hank told her, standing rather awkwardly in the doorway, "But, truth be told, I was rather wanting to anyway... M-may I come in?" The fact that he stammered too made Catrin smile slightly, and she waved him in to the room. He left the door open slightly, which Catrin was grateful for: she wasn't sure she wanted to be alone with any man just yet, even if it was just Hank. He sat on the very edge of her bed, keeping plenty of space between them but making careful eye contact. "Are you alright?" he asked her softly, carefully, "You seemed a bit... flustered." Catrin shrugged, trying to play it cool.

"I was, truthfully," she muttered, "Still not used to this... talking-to-people thing..." Hank suddenly looked worried, and he clenched his hands tightly in his lap.

"Oh. Would you, er... would you rather I left, then? I'll gladly go, if it will make you feel more comfortable..." He looked away from her, and Catrin's heart gave a sudden pang. Without even thinking about what she was doing or how it might be taken, she scooted over to him and pulled the young man into a tight embrace from the side, her arms wrapping around his shoulders as she rested her head against the outside of his shoulder. She felt him stiffen in surprise and nearly laughed.

"Nah... it's fine..." she told him, then realized she hadn't told him what she was thinking. "Stay," she said firmly, "Please," she added as an afterthought, "I-I want you to stay." She raised her head to look at him, a small smile playing around her lips. "It'll be good practice for me..." Hank smiled hesitantly, then patted her knee gently.

"Of course, if you like." He sat completely still, almost like a statue, for several seconds, then looked down at her again. "What shall we talk about?" Catrin actually grinned, releasing the boy but not moving away from his side, swinging her legs against the side of the bed self-consciously.

"Anything you want... or hey, I know, tell me more about the things you've invented!" It was Hank's turn to grin, and he eagerly launched into one of his favorite topics: science. After that had been exhausted, which took at least an hour before Catrin got bored and changed the subject, they talked about their new friends, the possible things they could be required to do to catch Shaw, and, with a little prying on each of their parts, their pasts. It turned out that Hank had been born in Illinois, his mutation already in place at the time of his birth. Apparently, though, according to him, he was still and always had been on good terms with his family, despite this oddity.

Catrin was reluctant to tell Hank much of anything about her past, but finally he convinced her to share "just a bit," as he put it. As she got started, though, Catrin found it to be easier and easier to share: it hurt quite often, and she came close to tears again several times, but Hank always waited for her when she paused, even wrapping his arm around her shoulders protectively once. Gradually, she told him more than she even knew she remembered: about her parents, her father's job as an electrician, her older brother and his obsession with all things baseball, the schools she'd gone to and classes she'd enjoyed (science and literature)... even the accident, and the way she'd been treated by her family afterward. She skimmed a bit over the last four years, deciding to go back and answer the questions Hank was putting to her about more of her childhood. After that, they took turns telling each other funny stories about their respective childhoods.

Raven poked her head in in the middle of a story Hank was telling about how he'd tried out for football while at Harvard, only to get refused because, even though he'd only been 13 at the time, he was "too young and too strong." It had both him and Catrin in stitches – Catrin for the most part because she couldn't figure out how wiry Hank could be called "too strong" for anything – so they didn't notice at first when the blond came in.

"What are you two hooting about?" she giggled, looking between the two of them in utter confusion. Catrin and Hank both immediately stopped laughing, each giving the girl a shrug. This made her laugh more, and shake her head in disbelief. "Honestly, I've never seen either of you laugh that much... Have you two been in here this whole time? It's been hours, you know!" Catrin's eyes shot to the clock on the wall behind them and got a shock: it was nearly dinnertime. Raven looked more amused than ever at her expression, then smirked at Hank. "Are you two coming or not? We're gonna go to the rec room again... Sean's got the idea we should talk more about our mutations, whatever that means..."

She rolled her eyes, then left the room again. Catrin looked over at Hank, who apparently had the same idea at the same time and met her eyes just as she met his. This made both of them blush and stammer for a few seconds.

"Er... shall we?" Hank asked finally, offering his arm as he had done for both her and Raven a few days before. Catrin, still unsure what to say, gave him an embarrassed little grin and took it, allowing him to help her up and lead her out of the room.

They arrived in the rec room to find everyone else already there: a sort of half cheer, half catcall rose at their entrance together, which made Catrin blush and scowl.

"Hey, where've you been?" Darwin called, "You two were gone for ages!" Angel giggled, and Sean let out a loud whistle. Hank blushed, then, too, but he led Catrin over to the couch Raven was sitting on and sat her down beside the blond before sitting down himself, at the other end of the couch from Raven.

"We were talking, that's all," he said, sounding surprisingly dignified, which made the others grins even wider.

"Is that what they're calling it now, 'talking'?" Alex muttered, eliciting several more stifled giggles. Raven raised her hands and her eyebrows, hushing the group.

"That really is what they were doing, I saw them, so hush, all of you," she ordered, and the teenagers shut up, though an occasional snort or giggle still escaped them. Catrin was both grateful to Raven for this, and jealous of her ability to make everyone obey her. It seemed a useful gift to have.

"So what are we doing now?" Angel asked; she always wanted to get on to doing something interesting. There was a small pause as they all considered, before Raven spoke up again.

"I was thinking... since we're all supposed to be a team, we should come up with codenames!" Everyone nodded, including Catrin: they had all been unconsciously, and in some cases consciously, not discussing their mutations, but it was safe to say they would need to eventually, if they really were expected to work together and maybe even fight together. "I wanna be Mystique," Raven added, smirking to herself. This elicited several raised eyebrows, but Catrin found herself nodding: the name was good – obviously Raven had put some thought into it before this – and fit her mutation well.

_Though I suppose since Hank and I are the only ones who know what her mutation is, and since I'm pretty sure I'm the only one who's actually seen it, I'm not surprised they're confused..._

"Why 'Mystique'?" Sean asked a few seconds later, his eyebrows shooting to the top of his forehead. Raven's smirk grew even wider, and within a second she'd shifted her appearance to exactly match Sean's. A gasp rippled through the room; Catrin even heard Hank make a sound of surprise.

"Because I'm more mysterious than you, dummy," Raven quipped in Sean's voice, getting several laughs, before changing back to her blond-haired appearance. She looked across at the other couch, to where Darwin sat. "What about you?" The black boy grinned.

"Well, Darwin's already a nickname, and it fits, so I think I'll stick with that," he told them, "I adapt to survive, see? I call it 'reactive evolution'..." He got up and went around the couch to the fish tank, making sure everyone was watching before sticking his head in. Even Catrin gasped when gills sprouted on his neck, allowing him to breathe underwater. He turned his head and grinned at them, still in the tank, before pulling his head out and taking his seat again. He looked over at Sean, who sat in a chair near the end of one of the couches, obviously nominating him to go next.

"I'm going to be..." Sean muttered, folding his hands in his lap and leaning forward, thinking hard. "Banshee!" he decided finally. Catrin raised an eyebrow, and Hank let out a little chuckle.

"Why do you want to be named after a wailing spirit?" the brilliant young man asked, making everyone else who hadn't gotten it before smirk. Sean answered the room with a smirk of his own, leaning even further forward before getting to his feet.

"You might wanna cover your ears," he advised, and once everyone had done so, he sucked in a deep breath. He stopped himself from doing... whatever it was he was about to do when he noticed that Catrin hadn't covered her ears. "What... you aren't gonna?" he asked her. Catrin smirked.

"I want the whole experience. Go for it." Sean shrugged, making sure the others all had their ears covered, before leaning forward towards the coffee table.

"Your ears, I guess..." he muttered, sucking in another large breath and letting out a whistle that made Catrin's head feel like it was splitting in two, even though it wasn't aimed at her. The large window that was straight in front on him, however, actually shattered, all the glass falling to the ground and shattering further. Everyone made sounds of appreciation, except Catrin, who was rubbing her ears. She'd felt both eardrums throb and nearly rupture; if she hadn't had the ability to heal herself, she would've had trouble hearing for days. "That fun?" Sean queried, smirking. Catrin smirked back and nodded.

"Best thing I ever did... and that's totally a lie." Everyone laughed, then looked at Angel, who sat on the end of the couch Darwin was on next to Sean.

"My, ah, 'stage name' was Angel..." she half-purred, getting up and removing her jacket; her shirt exposed her entire upper back and the tattoo of dragonfly-like wings that covered it, and Sean let out another whistle, though not a glass-shattering one this time, at the sight of the beautiful girl. She smirked, wriggling her shoulders slightly, and what had appeared to be a tattoo pulled away from her back, revealing itself to be actual wings. "Kinda fits," she added nonchalantly.

"You can fly?" Raven squeaked, as the rest made sounds of amazement. Angel smiled lazily, fluttering her wings.

"Uh-huh," she answered proudly, fluttering her wings faster and faster until she was airborne, hovering between them near the ceiling. "Not to mention-" she added, then spit hard, sending a blob of greenish saliva all the way out the window and most of the way across the courtyard outside, hitting a statue of a man Catrin didn't recognize squarely on top of the head. Even from here, Catrin could see the stuff melting the metal of the statue. Angel gave a little bow in midair, then sank back to earth amid applause. Everyone peered around at who was left: Catrin, Hank, and Alex. Alex made the choice of who went next by grinning at Hank.

"What about you? I mean, what is there... Bigfoot?" The others laughed. The story if Hank's abilities had been mentioned to him and the other boys by Angel, but apparently it had gotten rather out of hand. Hank, Catrin noticed, who had been smiling, now looked flustered, nervous. She was opening her mouth to say something nasty back, but Raven caught her eye and winked.

"Well, you know what they say about guys with big feet," the blond drawled, making Hank blush even more. She peered over at Alex's feet, smirking. "Hey, yours look kinda small," she remarked, making Alex flush and everyone else laugh; even Hank managed a chuckle. Still, Catrin reached over and touched his hand once, where it sat between them on the couch cushion. She wasn't sure if anyone saw or not, but Angel did give her a little grin a few seconds later, so she hastily put her hands in her lap so that no-one would get ideas about what she was doing.

Since Alex had been the one to tease unfairly, attention was distracted to him, making him the new name-chooser.

"Alex, what is your gift? What can you do?" Darwin asked the blond boy. Alex looked, if it was possible, even more uncomfortable.

"Ah, it's not, um," he stammered, scratching his head awkwardly, "Um... I just can't do it... I can't do it in here..." There was a pause as everyone considered this; then, in unison, they all, except Alex, got up, grabbing Alex and dragging him over to the broken window. He stepped outside reluctantly, muttering, "Get back..." In an unspoken agreement, Catrin and the others arranged themselves according to height, then leaned around the corner of the window to look at Alex, who was now several yards to the right.

"Get back!" he repeated, and they all pulled back... but only for a few seconds. Then, curiosity overcame them, and they all leaned back forward in unison. Alex rolled his eyes, then took on a concentrating expression. Red ribbons of light formed around his body, looping around and around before shooting off around the courtyard, striking the walls and scorching them, and even lopping the metal statue in half. Everyone yelled in surprise, even Catrin, and ducked, but as soon as the lights had faded they were all up again and cheering. Alex re-entered the room, looking oddly relieved; it took Catrin a minute, but then she realized why: he'd been worried he would hurt someone, but all he'd done was entertain them and chop a statue's torso off.

"So... what do we call that?" Angel asked, resuming her seat. They all thought, then suddenly Hank grinned.

"What about Havok? As in, 'Cry havok!-"

"'And let slip the dogs of war'..." Catrin murmured, finished the quote. Everyone stared at them as though they'd both grown extra heads, and Hank sighed.

"It's Shakespeare. From Julius Caesar," he explained simply.

"Duh," Catrin added in an undertone, and he snorted softly, making everyone else laugh too. Darwin shook his head, looking impressed.

"I figured Hank would know something like that, bein' super-educated and all, but how did you know that, Catrin?" It was Catrin's turn to smirk.

"Literature is fun. And reading is easy." She shrugged, smirking wider. "What can I say? I listened in school... while I was still in it, anyway..." The others paused, then nodded, accepting this answer. "So, you like it, Alex?" Catrin added, addressing the boy. He shrugged.

"Works for me. What about you? What can you do, Catrin?" Everyone's eyes were suddenly on her, and Catrin looked around, wondering if there was any way to get out of it. But no, everyone else had gone... save Hank, but they all knew his powers, and no name had been even suggested for him. She sighed, flipping her red hair out of her face.

"Fine, fine... two in here, and then the others outside, okay? I don't wanna pull a Sean... or Banshee... and break anything..." She wasn't sure if they were seriously going to call each other their new names, but she decided to use Banshee's at that moment. Everyone else, however, seemed more stuck on the rest of her words.

"Wait... two in here, and the rest out there?" Angel asked, her eyes huge, "How much can you do?"

"I thought you only had two powers, Catrin," Raven put in, "The-" She realized everyone was staring at her, hoping she'd give something away, so she changed her words to "-the one thing and the other thing..." Catrin actually laughed.

"Nope. Five," she said simply, standing up and heading over to the fish tank, the way Darwin had. They all swiveled around, mouthing _"Five? FIVE?"_ Catrin shook her head at their expressions, then put her hand over the tank and pulled on the water inside of it with her water abilities. The water rose up like a transparent snake and curled around her hand, spiraling through the air. Everyone gasped, looking impressed, and suddenly Catrin understood why they had all been having fun even when it was their turn to show their powers: it felt nice to be admired. "Next indoor activity, I need a knife," she stated, going back over and sitting down next to Hank again, "Actually, anything sharp'll do..." Everyone stared at her, uncomprehending for a few seconds, then all dug in their pockets in unison, looking for something that would do for her.

"Will this do?" Darwin asked first, holding up a pocketknife. Catrin nodded, reaching over to take it, then flipping it open and staring at the blade.

"Looks pretty sharp," she commented in a off-hand tone, "That's nice... makes it so it doesn't hurt as much, see..." Without another word, she pressed the blade into her forearm and sliced upward, not even flinching as the blade ripped deeply through her skin: flesh wounds were so easy for her body to heal that it almost seemed to no longer care about the pain they caused, saving up the agony for far larger wounds. Everyone in the room yelled, and Hank, even though he'd seen her heal before, went so far as to yank the knife out of her hand with surprising force.

"My God, Catrin, not so deep!" he warned, "You could cut something vital, like a tendon!" Catrin shrugged, even though the others were practically flailing in their hurry to get her some sort of something to bind her arm up with.

"Get back here, or you'll miss it," she called lazily, making everyone freeze in place and swivel to look at her arm. Within seconds after this, the cut healed over, as though it had never been. Angel shrieked, and Havok swore like a sailor, actually grabbed her arm to peer at it more closely.

"How the hell did you do that?" he demanded, making Catrin shiver: his expression and the others reminded her of the firemen after the accident. She tugged her arm back, nearly throwing Darwin's now-bloody knife back at him.

"I don't know," she snapped, "It's not one I have to think about, it just happens." Raven, who was still extremely pale, laid a calming hand on Catrin's shoulder, which Catrin had to force herself not to shrug off.

"Hey, Catrin, it's okay, don't be mad," the blond said soothingly, now patting Catrin's shoulder. She fought harder against the urge to pull away, but then another hand rested on her opposite shoulder, and Catrin felt herself instinctively relax at its touch. Surprised, she looked over to see whose it was, only to flush when she realized it was Hank's. He rubbed a spot just to one side of her right shoulder blade, and she nearly sighed, completely relaxing again.

"Just... don't do that again, alright? We get the idea of the mutation, you don't have to hurt yourself anymore to prove it to us," the young man murmured. Catrin nodded silently, but she nearly lost her calm again when she saw the others glancing back and forth between them in surprise and, in Raven's case, mild amusement. "Why don't you show us the rest?" Hank added, and Catrin was distracted enough by this that she was able to stand and head to the broken window without seeming angry.

"Come on, then," she told the others, and they were all by her side within seconds, watching her avidly. "Okay, first," Catrin muttered, creating currents in the air that lifted her out of the window. She hadn't intentionally tried to do this particular thing before, but since she'd managed it the other day she figured she could give it a try again. It worked, that was for sure, but she also wound up nearly blowing everyone else over with the power of the wind she was using.

"Sorry," she muttered, but the others were all smiling, and Banshee and Darwin had whooped when she'd started floating. "Back off for the next one," she warned them, making shooing motions to make sure they didn't climb out of the window after her. They stayed where they were, but they all peered out, much the way they had when Havok had shown off his power. Catrin smirked at them, shaking her head. "You look like a bunch of hungry squirrels or something, staring at a nut," she quipped, but before any of them could laugh or protest she had lit herself on fire. They had all seen this ability to some extent the night before, but this was much more... explosive. Fire bathed her body in light and heat, causing her hair to billow around her and her skin to tingle. Angel and Raven both cried out in surprise, and Banshee actually wolf-whistled, which made Catrin glare at him.

"Your eyes... they're red, now," Hank breathed, stepping out of the window and coming over to her in much the same way he had the first day he'd met her. He held out his hand as if to touch her arm, but pulled back before he was even two feet away. "Too hot," he explained, which made the others all laugh.

"Yeah, she's too hot for all of us, now," Havok called, actually grinning. Catrin rolled her eyes and extinguished the flames, crossing her arms over her chest a little awkwardly.

"Shut up, you," she snapped, then looked around her at the ground. "Haven't tried this last one at all, since it only started a few days ago, but let's see..." She held out her hand and concentrated, trying to focus on the earth under the grass. "Shit..." she muttered, not able to figure it out, "Can't quite..." She pulled a little harder, growling in frustration when that didn't work, before yanking much, much harder at the usual spot in her mind that she had to focus on to use her abilities. This proved to be a bad move, for before she knew what had even happened an area of ground easily 10 feet square had lifted up about half a foot from its surroundings. A silence followed this as she and the others processed what had just happened. Then...

"Alright, Catrin!" Banshee cheered, and the others joined in applause. Catrin allowed herself to grin before going back over and stepping into the room again.

"So, what do we call that?" she asked, resuming her seat. The others sat down too, all pondering the question.

"What about Element?" Raven suggested after about half a minute, "I mean, as in the four traditional elements: fire, air, water, and earth. You can control all of them." The rest nodded, grinning, and Catrin shrugged.

"If you want. Works for me." She heard a whispered word from beside her, and looked over at Hank. "Was that you, Hank? What did you say, I didn't hear you..." He waved her off, but there was an odd look in his eyes that made Catrin want to push him to tell her what he'd thought.

_I'll ask later, _she told herself, _Another time..._

"Well, that's everyone," Angel commented, "What do we do now?" They all looked around at each other, honestly not sure what to discuss after the excitement of their previous topics. Finally, Catrin decided to speak up, getting on her feet and flipping her hair back.

"Well, I dunno about all of you, but I think I want some music." She strode over to the radio, which was next to the fish tank, and turned it on. A popular song blasted out of it, and Catrin sat down next to the radio, as though she was listening. She wasn't quite paying complete attention to it, though, for her mind was still drifting over what Hank could've possibly said.

"We should pick names for Charles and Erik, too!" Raven put in, "What do you guys think?" Catrin smirked, already having an answer for the blond.

"That's easy... Charles is smart, right? And leads us? So he's The Professor, or something like that. And Erik... he controls metal... like a magnet." She glanced at the rest of the group, smirking. "Discuss." And they did. Within minutes, they'd come up with "Professor X" for Charles and "Magneto" for Erik. Personally, Catrin wasn't sure the men would have quite as much fun with their names as the teenagers were having with theirs, but she really couldn't bring herself to care one way or the other.

Not long after this, an agent poked his head in and gave them a large plate of sandwiches, which signaled a feeding frenzy: all of the teenagers were hungry at this point, so it literally took minutes for all of the food to disappear. After that, it was decided that Catrin's idea of music was a good one, and they all started to dance. Not with each other, for which Catrin was grateful – she didn't really want to dance with any of the boys except maybe Hank, and if she did that she would probably be teased for it – but just alone, laughing at themselves and each other's fairly universally crappy dance moves. Only Angel was really good, in Catrin's opinion (though she didn't tell the girl, since she knew she would be upset because of where her dancing practice had come from), but, to her surprise, the others lavished compliments on her, as well as Angel.

"Really? I thought I couldn't dance," she mumbled, which made them laugh.

"Trust us, you can," Havok told her, smirking, and Banshee nodded fervently, watching her with an almost avid expression. Catrin blushed, but managed to convince herself to accept the compliment. A new song came on, and Hank surprised everyone by pulling off his shoes and socks and jumping up to hang upside down from one of the lights.

"What?" he said, a little harshly compared to his usual tone, "It's comfortable..." After a few seconds, the rest shrugged and went on with what they were doing; the other boys had gotten bored with dancing and were now playing with each others' powers. Darwin had changed his skin to what looked to Catrin like that of a rhino's, and Havok was whacking him repeatedly with a baseball bat that he'd found in a corner.

"Harder! You're not doin' anything!" Darwin kept saying, so Havok would try harder, and then Banshee would have a try, only to fail as well. Catrin shook her head, smirking, and went back to dancing. She and Raven got up on one of the couches to do so, and Angel was hovering in midair as she swayed from side to side. Hank was rocking slightly back and forth, which looked hilarious with him upside down, but Catrin managed not to laugh.

The party was just getting started, with all of them laughing and calling to each other, when suddenly there was an interruption. Charles, Erik, Moira, and another agent Catrin didn't recognize were standing outside the broken window, watching them disapprovingly. Raven hopped down off the couch and went over to them, apparently not noticing their expressions, but Catrin saw and immediately sat down, feeling worried: what would they do to them?

"What are you doing, Raven?" Charles asked softly, his tone surprisingly deadly. Raven, however, just grinned back at him.

"No, you have to call me Mystique, now!" she told the man merrily, "And we picked names for you two, as well... You-" she pointed at Charles, "- are Professor X, and you-" she pointed at Erik, smirking at him, "- are Magneto!" The others, all except Catrin, whose heart was sinking a a rapid pace, nodded or made some sound of agreement, their grins all still in place. Erik actually smirked a little, too, but Charles looked anything but amused.

"Exceptional, all right," the other agent muttered, and walked off, Erik and Moira following him. Charles glanced after them, then gave the teenagers a hard look. Catrin stood up then, getting ready for being yelled at, and she felt Hank drop back down from his light directly beside her. However, Charles' five words, said in a low, almost calm voice, were worse, far worse, than a thousand yelled ones:

"I expect more from you."

He shook his head, then followed Erik and the agents. Catrin felt terrible, and she could see by the others' expressions that they did, too. They had let Charles down, which, for some reason, was making Catrin feel as though she'd let her parents down, as well. She felt so bleak she couldn't even summon up enough humor to laugh when Charles tripped and nearly fell sprawling on the ground she'd raised...

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><p>Thanks so much for reading! Please review and let me know if you are interested in seeing more!<p> 


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